niir.iTioNs TO NORTH AMERICAN icnTHYOLOGY iv. 



Fnlrr:i roughish. not enlarged. Lower lobe of tail rather sharp. Sides 

 of tail with regular rhombic plates. IMalcs mesocentrous, rather rough. 

 I smaller than dorsal, placed mostly below if. Anterior rays of 

 pectoral thickened. "Skin with very small rough points in very 

 yoiiii- examples; in older ones these ossifications are broader, rough, 

 snbstellate. and more or less regularly arranged in oblique series. 1 ' D. 

 in-M: A. L'ii-30. Dorsal plates 11-14; lateral L'7-30; ventral plates 

 11. Atlantic Ocean ; ascending: rivers of Europe and North America. 

 Var. oxyrrEiynrEuis (Mitchill), the American Sturgeon, has the num- 

 ber of lateral plates generally fe\ver L'7-1'0 instead of 29-36, as in Euro- 

 pean exam] iles. The stellate ossifications are also said to be some- 

 what rougher than in the European fortn. Massachusetts to Florida; 

 abundant. 



(I,. S\>i. X:ii.; < ;iintlnT. viii, 3-42: Accuser oxyrliyncnus Mitcliill, Trans. Lit. & 

 Phil. Sen-. X. Y. i, 40'J, and of most American writers.) 



A. trailsilloutaBluS Richardson. ll'httr sturgeon; Columbia River Sturgeon; 



Sitrriliitr:-tii Sliu'i/i nil. 



Color dark grayish, scarcely olive-tinged, and without stripes. Dor- 

 sal shields mesocentrous. with a compressed blnntish spine, which is 

 anteriorly often serrated, and followed behind by a compressed keel. 







Lateral shields rather opisthocentroiis. Skin with stellate roughnesses, 

 but smoother than in .1. mnlifoxfris. Snout sharp in the young, be- 

 coming rather blunt and short in the adult, when it is considerably 

 shorter than the rest of the head. P.arbels rather nearer to the tip of 

 snout than to the mouth. Gill-rakers comparatively long, more than 

 .'* times as high as broad, about LT in number. Upper lobe of tai[ 

 with rhombic, plates. First caudal fulcrum, above and below, enlarged 

 and granular. Lower lobe of caudal rather sharp and long, not much 

 shorter than upper. Dorsal plates 12; lateral ;'><;-!'.>, usually about 11 : 

 ventral 10. Anal I'm mostly below dorsal. D. l.~: A. L'S. Depth 7 in 

 length ; head !. Pacific coast, south to Monterey, ascending the Sacra- 

 mento. Columbia, and Fiber's ] livers in large numbers in spring. 

 Eteaehee .1 \\ei-Jit of :ioo to COO pounds, and is used as lood. 



l.'i. li -ii'U'in, r.-imia r.iir.-Aiiii-r. iii, -,'7-, IS III: .(<;/ nx, r liniclii/rh i/uclnm and acuti- 



r*t- > ...lit, ; \\lrs. I'lur. C;,!. Ar.,,1. .\ a I . BOL 1^4, 1", Hi : Jc(>7(.S(T tnillxllWlltUHUa 



ami /'/-/' h i/rlii/n, Im i ( iiim lirr, viii, ::;',i;, :;:',7. ) 



7<>. A. i:J<'(lll <>s(l is \\ r,-s. ->;,;, Slin-'l,;,,,. 



('..lor oli\e green, \\ith an ..live stripe on the median lino of the belly 

 and one on each side above tin- ventral plates, these stripes ceasing op- 

 tin- vent. Shields generally opisthocentroiis, with a strongly 



