GiiN. ACIPENSER. COMMON STURGEON. 293 



its way to tlie markets of our principal towns, par- 

 ticularly that of London. Both in France and this 

 country the Sturgeon is regarded as a royal fish, 

 that is to say, the property of the crown ; and a 

 provision still exists in the Statute-book, that the 

 king's escheater shall make diligent inquiry whether 

 any Sturgeon has been taken and withdrawn from 

 the crown. The flesh is firm and compact, tasting 

 somewhat like veal. It is a migratory fish, passing 

 the winter in the depths of the ocean, and entering 

 estuaries and the mouths of rivers in spring. They 

 are never taken with lines, but are usually found 

 entangled in salmon-nets. In the Firth of Forth, 

 according to Dr. Parnell, an individual is taken, on 

 an average, once in every three years, and then 

 generally in the salmon- nets at Musselburgh or 

 Queensferry. The largest specimen recorded as 

 having been caught in this country, weighed four 

 hundred and sixty pounds. 



(Sp. 215.) A, latirostris. Broad-nosed Sturs^eon. 

 In the Common Sturgeon the nose is long and 

 • pointed, and the cirri are placed about midway 

 between its anterior extremity and the mouth ; in 

 tlie present species, the nose is broad and blunt, 

 and the cirri are placed nearer the top of the snout 

 than to the mouth : other distinctions will be found 

 in our Synopsis. This species, apparently very 

 distinct from A . sturio, and not yet identified with 

 any of the continental species, was first made known 

 by Dr. Parnell, who describes it in his Essay on the 

 Fishes of the Firth of Forth, and in the Transactions 



