THE FOOD AND GAME FISHES OF NEW YORK. 



26q 



9. Short-nosed Sturgeon {Acipcnscr brcvirostruui LeSueur). 

 Acipenser brevirostrum Jordan & Evermann, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus., I. 106, 1896. 



This little sturgeon has not been positively recognized anywhere except in the 

 Delaware and in Gravesend Bay ; only a few specimens have been obtained in the 

 river, and it is rare in Gravesend Bay. Prof. Ryder collected five examples at Dela- 

 ware City in the spring of 1888, and has published a description of the species in 

 the Bulletin of the U. S. Fish Commission for that year. 



The largest specimen known was 33 inches long ; individuals 20 inches long are 

 capable of reproducing the species. 



At the present time the Short-nosed Sturgeon probably never comes mto the 

 markets on account of its small size, which prevents its capture in the nets used for 

 taking the common sturgeon. About 1817, however, it was brought in the shad 

 season to Philadelphia and sold for 25c. to 75c. each. 



Spawning takes place in the Delaware during May. The eggs are deposited in 

 depths of I to 5 fathoms on hard bottom in brackish or nearly fresh water. Prof. 



SHORT-XOSED STURGEON. 



Ryder states that the eggs are extruded by rubbing the belly either against hard 

 places on the river bed or against the rough bodies of the males, two or more of 

 which accompany each female. The gravid roe fish are larger than the males. 

 Prof. Ryder found the ova more or less adhesive immediately after their removal 

 from the abdomen, but the sticky mucus covering is soluble in water. The period 

 of hatching varies from four to six days. 



Up to the third month of its life the young sturgeon has minute conical teeth in 

 its jaws, and at this age it is believed to subsist on " rhizopods, unicellular algae, 

 infusoria, minute larvae of insects and worms, crustaceans, etc." Still following the 

 observations of Prof. Ryder, we learn that the sturgeon, when it has reached a 

 length of I inch to i^ inches, has minute teeth on the floor of the phar3'nx and 

 feeds on small water fleas, and probably algte, worms, embryo fishes, insects and 

 fresh-water copepods. Later in life the fish seeks larger crustaceans, and the adults 

 occasionally contain fragments of mussel shells. The young fish have been caught 

 under the ice in midwinter and are known to pass most of the year in fresh 

 water. 



