172 STURGEON. 



remaining part of the head in examples to three feet long. Barbels nearer to the eye than 

 to the extremity of the snout ; in very large examples, especially those with a broad snout, 

 the barbels are midway between snout and eye, or even nearer to the end of the snout. 

 Osseous shields well developed: ii — 13 along the back, and (34) 29 — 31 (in young examples 

 sometimes 26 or 27) along the side. Skin with very small rough points in very young 

 examples; in older ones these ossifications are broader, rough, substellate, and more or less 

 regularly arranged in oblique series. Anal fin below dorsal. Dorsal 37 — 44." This species 

 is found in the Mediterranean, western and northern Europe, and eastern North America. 



The word Sturgeon is to be referred to the German Sid'r, the name of this fish ; perhaps 

 the term may be connected with the verb storen, "to poke," "rummage about," in allusion 

 to this fish seeking its food at the bottom with its pointed head. 



