266 SEVKXTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



fringes of the baleen plates of the whale, and probably allow the passage of the fine 

 silt of the river bed when this is thrown into the water by the shovel of the fish, 

 but arrest everything as large as the Cyclops. I have not found anything recorded 

 as to the spawning habits of the Paddle-fish. The young have the jaws and palate 

 filled with minute teeth, which disappear with age." 



The flesh of the Paddle-fish is frequently considered tough and shark-like, but 

 individuals of 8 or 10 pounds are skinned, and sold in some of the western markets 

 freely, and are thought by some persons to be fairly good for the table. 



7. Common Sturgeon (Acipenscr sturio Linnaeus). 



Acipenser sturio LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat., ed. x, I, 237, 1758; JORDAN & EVERMANN, Bull. 



47, U. S. Nat. Mus., I, 105, 1896. 

 Acipenser oxyrhincus DEK.AY, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 346, pi. 58, fig. 189 (young), 1842. 



The range of the Common Sturgeon includes the Atlantic Ocean southward to 

 Africa and the West Indies. The northern limit on our east coast appears to be 

 Cape Cod. In the Delaware River the fish has rarely ascended as far as Port Jervis. 



COMMON STURGEON. 



Dr. Mitchill was the first to call attention to the similarity between the American 

 Sharp-nosed Sturgeon and the sturio of Europe. The fish attains a length of 12 

 feet in America, and it is stated that European examples measuring 18 feet have 

 been taken. 



The sturgeon ascends the large rivers from the sea in spring and early summer. 

 It is very common in the lower part of the Delaware River, where it forms the 

 object of an important fishery. This is the species concerning which so many 

 stories have been related as to its leaping into boats and injuring the occupants. 



The mouth of the sturgeon is furnished with a very protractile roundish tube 

 having powerful muscles and intended for withdrawing from the mud the various 

 small shellfish and crustaceans on which the animal subsists. The mouth is 

 surrounded also with numerous tentacles, with tactile properties, which are utilized 

 in procuring food. 



The reproductive habits of the sturgeon and the embryology of the species 

 have been made the subject of an exhaustive study by the late Prof. John A. Ryder 



