THE OTTAWA NATURALIST. 



Vol. XIII. OTTAWA, OCTOBER, 1899. No. 7. 



PADDLE-NOSED STURGEON IN ONTARIO. 



Bv Pkoiessor Edvv.vrd E. Prince, Dominion Commissioner of Fisheries 



Ottawa. 



The late Mr. A. N. Montpetit in his work " Les Poissons 

 d'Eau Douce du Canada," referred to a specimen of the Paddle- 

 nosed Sturgeon ( Polyodon spathula, Walb.) shown in the Fisher- 

 ies Museum, Ottawa. "Ai-je besoin de r^p^ter qu'il est unique au 

 Canada," he wrote. " Faut-il vous le d^crire ? Couleur olive un 

 peu pale; epercule d^mesur^ment allong-^ en point, atteignant pres- 



que les ventrales ; la tete, y compris la spatule et les pointes 



operculaires, presque plus de la moiti6 de la longueur du corps : la 

 tete seule n'est 6gale qu' k la cinqui^me partie." The specimen 

 described is indeed remarkable enough to call for special notice, 

 for the records of the capture of Polyodon in Canadian waters are 

 extremely, few. I have not been able to obtain information of 

 more than four specimens ever having been secured. About the 

 end of May an Indian captured a fine specimen in Lake Helen, 

 Nepigon River, Lake Superior, and on account of the uncommon 

 interest to naturalists of such an event, I venture to offer a few re- 

 marks upon this rare and curious Canadian fish. The mounted 

 specimen in the government collection was obtained over twenty 

 years ago, and I have been informed by a fisherman at Sarnia that 

 a second specimen was procured about the same time. A speci- 

 men is also recorded from Lake Erie ; but hitherto none have been 

 secured in Lake Superior, and the example recently shipped to Ot- 

 tawa is of special interest as extending the range of this rare fish 

 westward. It was sent fresh ; but on examination its condition 

 was such that it could not be preserved, and even the skeleton, 

 being mainly of cartilage, is difficult to prepare as a museum ex- 



