FISHES OF NEW YORK 67 



or insufficient depth of water. The breaching of the sturgeon 

 is a well known habit. Instances are recorded of serious injury 

 to persons by sturgeons throwing themselves into boats. The 

 sturgeon will occasionally take a baited hook, but its great 

 strength and unwieldiness make it an undesirable fish for the 

 angler. 



Large numbers of sturgeon have been destroyed by fishermen 

 during the whitefish season simply on account of the annoyance 

 caused by their presence in the nets. Now that the flesh is 

 coming to be esteemed for smoking, and the demand for caviar 

 made from their eggs has largely increased, the wanton waste 

 of this fish has been checked. A troublesome parasite of the 

 sturgeon is the lamprey eel (Petromyzon concolor 

 Kirt.) which attaches itself to the skin presumably for the pur- 

 pose of feeding on the mucus, which is exuded from the pores 

 in great abundance, and remains fixed in one position so long as 

 to penetrate to the flesh and produce a deep ulcerous sore. 



The lake sturgeon was formerly not very much prized, but is 

 rapidly growing in favor. The flesh is eaten in the fresh con- 

 dition or after boiling in vinegar or curing by smoking. Smoked 

 sturgeon is now considered almost if not quite equal to smoked 

 halibut, and the demand for it is increasing. From the eggs of 

 the sturgeon a good grade of caviar is produced. " The caviar 

 is made by pressing the ova through seives, leaving the mem- 

 branes of the ovaries remaining in the sieve, and the eggs fall 

 through into a tub. This is continued until the eggs are entirely 

 free from particles of membrane, when they are put into salt 

 pickle and allowed to remain for some time." 



A large specimen now in the museum of Cornell University is 

 reported as being from Cayuga lake. Seth Green informed Dr 

 Meek that sturgeons had occasionally been taken in that lake; 

 but, so far as he knew, they had never been found in any other 

 of the small lakes of central New York. 



H. .V. Kipp of Montezuma N. Y. wrote Dr Meek as follows: 



There have not been any sturgeons taken from Cayuga lake 

 since 1880, but quite a number before that date, and the largest 

 known weighed 35 pounds. 



