Grunion bluish-green backs and silvery sides and bellies. Their snouts are bluntly rounded and slippery. Silversides differ from true smelts of the family Osmeridae in that they lack the trout-like adipose fin. Young grunion grow rapidly and are about five inches long by the time they reach one year old and are ready to spawn. Adult fish normally range in size from with a maximum recorded size of (La Jolla, Ca., 05-11-05). Average body lengths for males and females are , respectively, at the end of one year; at the end of two years; and at the end of three years.
What Is a Nation? What Is a Nation? "What is a Nation?" ("Qu'est-ce qu'une nation?") is an 1882 lecture by French historian Ernest Renan (1823–1892), known for the statements that a nation is "a daily referendum", and that nations are based as much on what the people jointly forget, as what they remember. It is frequently quoted or anthologized in works of history or political science pertaining to nationalism and national identity. Renan wrote "What is a Nation" in order to symbolize the nationalism which was born in France as a result of the French Revolution of 1789. Renan begins his essay by noting