lagoon. Raised alluvial banks overlook marshes bordered with reeds. Outgrowths of the 

 rhizomes and stolons of these plants spread over the surface of the water to form great rafts 

 with a vegetation of their own, small willows growing in abundance among ferns, convolvulus 

 and forget-me-not. The Rumanians call these floating platforms " plaur ". In the deeper 

 channels the water keeps fresh but under these reed structures it becomes fetid and the lack 

 of oxygen makes the sturgeon retreat. So the Rumanian government, at the instigation of 

 Professor Antipa, had large canals cut in this encroaching vegetation. These were both a 

 safeguard for navigation and for the ascent of the sturgeon. Destruction then came from the 

 thoughtless fishing of trawlers in in-shore waters. 



The \'olga sturgeon fishery and the preparation of caviar is a source of wealth for Russia. 

 In 1908 I stayed for two months on the barges of the Raschkir Cossacks. They are honest, 

 lively and courageous people and with them I went down the great river from Samara to 

 Astrakhan. While the left bank is flat between Samara and Tsaritzin (now Stalingrad), the 

 right bank is steep, the bed of the river being deeper on the western side, the bank off which 

 the spawn is laid. The fishery was carried out by means of traps or harpoons. To make the 

 sturgeon come to the surface, the Baschkirs struck the water with their long oars f)r frightened 

 them by cracking their whips and yelling like savages. South of Tsaritzin there are fewer 

 spawners, for the Volga slows down, flowing sluggishly among the islets and swamps of the delta. 



Scaphyrhinchid sturgeons moNC around in the rivers of Asia. They ha\e an enlarged snout 

 and the females are larger than the males. There are also sturgeon in the Blue Ri\ er (Aci- 

 penser dabryanus) and in the Red River (A. kiaiKisinensis) and green sturgeon (A. iitcdiowslrin) 

 swim in the rivers of the Pacific side of North America. 



Beside the anadromous salmonid fishes and sturgeons, the freshwater fauna of North 

 America contains the same families as those in the northern regions of the Old World. The 

 cyprinids are less numerous, being only represented by a few minnows and chub (Leucisciis, 

 Hybopsis and Li'ucotilus) with an Asian origin. But the closely related family C.atostomidae 

 (suckers) takes their place. These heavy-looking sluggish fishes live on the bottom, sucking 

 in mud with their large red lips. From Alaska to the Gulf of Mexico there are more than 70 spe- 

 cies of suckers. Their flesh has a muddy taste and they are of no commercial im|)ortance. 

 Not far from them, in the iMississippi, cat-fishes abound and these follow the enormous flooding 

 of the river. The blue cat-fish (Iclalunis fiircalns) moves off to be captured far from the river 

 in fields or forest. The bullhead ( Ameiurus nebnlosiis ) . the acclimatisation of which in French 

 rivers was so untimely, takes great care of its spawn. This is put under cover in hollow tree 

 stumps or, failing this, in old pails or tin cans. The fish may even excavate a hollow in the 

 mud. The male watches over the hatching of the eggs and guides the larvae into a compact 

 shoal around him, so that he can look after them and defend them. 



The perches are represented by an American species (Perca flavescens). and also by saugers 

 (Siizostedion) similar to those that live in the rivers of eastern Europe and Siberia (S. luciu- 

 perca). The black bass (Microplcriis dolomie.ii) has been successfully introduced into France. 



Pike are the large ])redalors, these surpassing those of the old world rivers in size and power. 

 The maskellunge (Esox masquinongy ) reaches a length of S feet and a weight of 110 pounds. 

 It lives in Lake Winnipeg and in the innumerable rivers of Manitoba, where it indulges in a 

 fearful slaughter of cyprinids and coregonids (whitefishes). Fishermen fear it. 



In the fresh waters of the New World there are archaic forms that have disappeared 

 everywhere else, relics of the order of holostean fishes that were a dominant group in geological 

 times. These are the bowfin ( Amia calva) and garpikes (Lepisosleiis). They are covered 

 with strong, ganoin-enamelled scales, these giving them a particularly shining appearance. 

 At the breeding season, bowfin come from the depths of the lakes towards the verges. Here 

 they throw themselves round and round, breaking the stems of water weeds and smashing 

 their roots until all this vegetable debris has been piled and crushed to form a basin very like a 

 bird's nest. The male stands guard close by the eggs and later on looks after the young fishes. 



The garpikes (Lepisosleiis osscus, L. plalyslomus ) live in the rivers and lakes of the United 

 States and Mexico and are even found in Cuba. They are large fishes that may reach up to 

 10 feet in length. The diamond-shaped ganoid scales are united to form a strong and compact 



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