22 FISHES OF ILLINOIS 



coast, and one in the Great Lake region — one of the Atlantic species 

 (A. sturio) frequenting the coasts of both Europe and America. The 

 shovel-nosed sturgeons are represented in the waters of the 

 Mississippi Valley by two species. Three species of the genus 

 Psetidoscaphirhynchus, resembling more or less the American shovel- 

 nosed forms, are confined to small tributaries of the Aral in 

 Tartary. Fossil Acipenseridce are little known, though numerous 

 scutes have been described from Tertiary formations of Europe and 

 America. Some species of sturgeon reach an immense size, speci- 

 mens of the great Russian sturgeon {A. huso) having been taken 

 weighing more than 3 ,000 ft>. A. ruhicundus, of the North American 

 Great Lakes, reaches a length of four to six feet. The smallest of the 

 species of Acipenser, the sterlet (A. ruthenus) of Europe, reaches 

 three feet in length. 



Sturgeons are bottom feeders, using their hard beaks to stir up 

 the mud in their search for food. Stomachs of sturgeon have been 

 found to contain worms, mollusks, insect larvae, small fishes, and 

 aquatic plants. In feeding, the mouth is protruded downwards, 

 spout-like, and thrust into the mud. The sensitive barbels and 

 papillose lips doubtless assist in locating objects of food, although 

 the intestines are generally more or less filled with mud, swallowed 

 with the organisms it contains. Schools of sturgeon have been 

 observed in clear water along the coasts digging up the soft bottom 

 of shallows with their snouts, in search, no doubt, of mollusks and 

 other organisms. Sturgeons are ordinarily captured with gill-nets 

 and set-lines, though seines and pound-nets, set for other fish, are 

 said to take them in considerable numbers. 



Their breeding season is in spring, as a rule from the first to 

 the last of May. The eggs of all species very quickly become 

 glutinous and adhere to sticks, weeds, and other objects. The 

 incubation period of the Atlantic sturgeon is about 7 days in 

 water at 62° to 65° Fahr. The young live on the yolk alone up to a 

 length of finch, and from, that size to 5 inches they feed on rhizopods, 

 alg^, Infusoria, and minute larvae. 



The flesh of all sturgeon, excepting the small shovel-nosed forms 

 of Asia, is used as food, and from the eggs of the larger kinds caviar 

 is prepared. If eaten fresh the flesh, except of young specimens, is 

 usually found to be rather coarse and beefy, and in consequence 

 sturgeon are as a rule smoked or boiled in vinegar before being 

 sold. Smoked sturgeon is now considered scarcely inferior to 

 halibut, and the demand for it is increasing. The consumption of 



