156 



TJlc Country Gcntlcniaji's Magazine 



(life ftaturalist. 



^ 



A MONSTER STURGEON. 



MRW. B. TEGETMEIER, averygood 

 judge of poultry, thus writes to the 

 Field upon an ichthyological subject: 



During the past week a sturgeon, the largest 

 I have ever seen, has been on view at Messrs 

 Grove's, the well-known fishmongers, 150 

 New Bond Street. The animal was captured 

 in the Hampshire Avon, near Christchurch, 

 by Mr Coates. 



It is unusual to find large sturgeon in the 

 rivers running- into the English Channel, they 

 being much more frequent in the rivers of 

 Scotland and Ireland. This renders the oc- 

 currence of one of such exceptional size the 

 more remarkable. I carefully measured this 

 specimen, and found its extreme length to be 

 117 inches = 9 feet 9 inches. The head 

 alone, measured from the tip of the nose to 

 the posterior margin of the gill cover, was 

 22 inches, and the girth around the thickest 

 part of the body 3 feet 9 inches. 



Yarrell, in his " History of British Fishes," 

 enumerates a few of the largest sturgeons on 

 record. He says that " one was caught in a 

 stake net at Findhorn, in Scotland, in July 

 1833, which measured 8 feet 6 inches, and 

 weighed 203 lb. Penant records the 

 capture of one in the Esk, which 

 weighed 460 lb.; and a head prepared by Mr 

 Stirling for the Anatomical Museum of the 

 University of Edinburgh, was cut from a stur- 

 geon caught near Alloa, said to weigh when 

 entire 50 stones, or 700 lb.— -its length was 9 

 feet." 



These two latter statements are rather 

 conjectural, and open to doubt. Messrs 

 Grove's specimen, measuring nearly 10 feet, 

 certainly does not reach 4 cwt, and it is 

 therefore probable that the 50 stone of Mr 



Stirling's specimen should be regarded as 

 " angler's Aveight." 



When i:i the ocean the sturgeon inhabits 

 deep water, feeding on crustaceans, fish, and 

 vegetable matter; hence they are generally 

 safe from nets, and are rarely taken, except 

 when they enter rivers for the purpose of de- 

 positing their spawn. 



The fish varies much at different ages, and 

 consequently the determination of the different 

 species is very difiicult, as well as most un- 

 satisfactory. 



Yarrell informs us that :— " In the time of 

 our first Henry the sturgeon was reserved 

 for the King's table, and even in the present 

 day, when one is caught in the Thames within 

 the jurisdiction of the Lord Mayor, it is called 

 a royal fish, implying that it ought to be sent 

 to the Queen. 



On the 28th of May last, the following 

 letter was addressed to the editor of the 

 Tillies : — 



Sir, — Would you be so kind as to give me any 

 little information through your valuable paper about 

 the following. 



On Friday I bought from a fisherman here a stur- 

 geon, weighing some 50 lb. or 60 lb. I exposed it for 

 sale in my shop, and in the course of the afternoon, 

 about five o'clock, the superintendent of police, with 

 two officers, came to my shop demanding the fish, 

 saying it ought to be given to the ]Mayor or offered 

 to him. I objected to them taking it away, but it 

 was of no avail ; they came into the shop and carried 

 it off. Have you any knowledge of any other case of 

 the kind, or do you think they were justified in tak- 

 ing it away ? I have offered and exposed for sale a 

 great many sturgeons, but this is the first time they 

 have ever taken such a thing in this town. Trusting 

 this will not give you any inconvenience. — I am, Sir, 

 yours obediently, T. T. Sampher. 



141 Norfolk Street, and 29 Chapel Street, King's 

 Lynn. 



