88 CU.MlilCUTIO-VS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICUTUYOLOGY - IV. 







48.-SCAPIIIKRIIYNCIIOPS GilL 

 Shovel- nose Sturgeons. 



(Scflj(7<i;%;ir/M<.f Hri -kt-l, Ann. "Wiener Mas. Naturgcsch. i, 1835,71; preoccupied in orui- 



thology.) 



],lnrliini>-hi,H" (Gill, MSS.) Jordan & Cop.-hmd, Bull. Buff. Soc. Nat. Hist. 187G, 161 ; 

 type .i( i/n user platorynchut Rafinesqne.) 



Snout broad, depressed, subspatulate or shovel-shaped. 2STo spiracle. 

 Caudal peduncle very long, strongly depressed, broader than deep. 

 l{ows of hony bucklers confluent below the dorsal fin, forming a com- 

 plete mat of mail on the tail. Tail produced in a filament beyond the 

 caudal tin. Gill-rakers somewhat fan-shaped. PseadobranchiaB obso- 

 lete. Species about 4, inhabiting the fresh waters of the United States 

 and Central and Eastern Asia, (ffzdpi), spade; ^>^?, snout; wi//, appear- 

 ance.) 



79. S. platyrrh) nclitis (Rafmesque) Gill. Shovel-nosed Sturgeon; Jl'ltitc sturgeon. 



Body elongate, tapering into a slender, depressed tail, whieli extends 

 beyond the caudal fin in the form of a filament. This filament is long 

 and slender in the young, but is frequently lost in the adult. Bony 

 shields o) list hocentrous, sharply keeled, the series continent beiow the 

 dorsal, obliterating the smaller plates between. Two occipital plates 

 \\iili short keels. A spine in front of eye, and one at the posterior edge 

 of the rostral " shovel " ; snout in the young with a few spines. Barbels 

 nearer mouth than tip of snout. Greatest width of head about half its 

 length. Xone of the fulcra enlarged. Dorsal and anal small. Anal 

 partly below dorsal. Gill-rakers small, lamellate, somewhat Ian-shaped, 

 ending in :>-\ points. Dorsal shields 1.">-1S; lateral 41-46 ; ventral 11- 

 !". Head I in length. L. 5 feet. .Mississippi Valley and streams of 

 the \Ye-terii and Southern States; common. 



(Atipenser platorhynchus ]>;ilincs(|iic, Irhth. Oh. Irt-JO, 80: .Vr<;;>/uY/< //>// .s nifnn<*<inn 



H. . i . i. \IIM. Wii-iMT Mils. N:itur-rsch. i, 1835,71: Scaphirhynchw oatapkraohu Qttatiher, 



viii 



SUBCLASS HOLOSTEL 



(The liomj (iamriilx.) 



Skeleton bony. \'eiitral I'm abdominal, wit li the ^basilar segments rudi- 

 inentar\,as in onlinaiy li>hes. Primary radii of jtosterior limb generally 

 reduced to one i IK 1 imeii I . Subopcrculuiii and preoperciilum present. 



. . 



In ui.r.U l.i-_MMTiiii^ with /., /i isdonl.l, ,1 .-.firra j.ivlix " ( /./././/// ,\- Sr,,l/.( Jr.-Kn.t,'!. 



11 ; hem < Soaphirrkynohope, fiifmtrrAompAu*, and all siinilar words are 



rli \\iilt. 'ii wilh llir dcinlil.- r. 



