.srt KOEON. 



1().')7 



The unliiiar\' size oC the ScaiidiiKiviaii Stiiry'eun is 

 about I'o — 2 111. Ill the isLiiul-helt of Sodevinaiilaiul, 

 accordiii.ii' to !u\sti;(i.m, small spocinieiis ?, — (i dm. long 

 are foiiiiiioncst. The veiling Sturgeon, IIS cm. long, 

 figured h\ Lixx.Kis, is still preserved in the Roj^il 

 Museum; Imt whether it was taken in Seandinavia, is 

 uncertain. Among the sjieciniens measured li\' Kuoviou 

 the throe smallest are 1 •> — Ml' cm. long; but he does 

 not state whether they are Scaiidiiia\iaii. Malm's small- 

 est siiecimeu was 39 cm. in length. < >n the other 

 hand, rather large siiecimens, measuring u|i to >> m., 

 are more frequently found; and Lindstkom records the 

 find in Gothland of a dead, stranded Sturgeon whi(;h 

 was stated to have been 14 Sw. feet (415 cm.) long. 

 According to an old siatciiiciit in Schonevelde, the 

 Elbe Sturgeon has been known to attain a length of 

 18 feet (.5' , in.)". 



The body of the Sturgeon is of an elongated fusi- 

 form slia]ie or, ^vhen the fish is spent, clavate, thickest 

 at the occiiHit. It tajiers forward in a highh' charac- 

 teristic manner, due to the p\ramidical foi'iii of the 

 snout, and also deviates behind from the ordinary pis- 

 cine type in its oblique, prolongated, and heterocercal 

 caudal tin. The greatest depth of the body, which is 

 usualh' deepest just behind the occiput, is about ' ^ — 

 Vi,i of its length, and the greatest thickness about 

 '/lo — ' 9 ^^^ ^^^^' s:nne. The least depth, just in front 

 of the caudal tin, is only about 3 % of the length, but 

 increases with age (during the growth of the Sturgeon 

 from a length of 16 cm. to one of 18.5 em.) from 11 

 to 16 % of the length of the head, or from 23 to 2S % 

 of the length of the pectoral fins. The fusiform shajje 

 of the bod\ is considerably modified, however, especially 

 during yciiith and in lean specimens, by the large shield- 

 rows, which render it pentagonal in section. The shield- 

 rows belong to the dorsal line, the lateral line, and 

 the side margins of the belly; but on the under sur- 

 face of the tail, lietween the vent and the anal tin, the 

 ventral rows coalesce, at least partialh, into one, which 

 is again divided, however, behind the anal tin; and on 

 the back of the tail, behind the dorsal fin, the shield- 

 row of the dorsal line commonly, but often irregularly, 

 breaks up into two rows, which may also be pre- 

 indicated in front nf the dorsal fin by one or two pairs 

 of plates, smaller than the rest, being fitted in before 



its fulcrum. In shape and relative position tlie buck- 

 lers show considerabk; variations, indi\'idual, it is true, 

 appearing even in specimens of eipial size, but evidently 

 also expressing the alterations of growth. In young 

 Sturgeons they are more densely set and deejier, with 

 sharjier and more pointed, I'ecurved spine, which is 

 furnished with small spines on its sloping hind margin. 

 With age the sjiines are obliterated, the plates become 

 shallower (Hatler), and sejiarate more and more from 

 each other in the several rows. Yet it applies to these 

 alterations of growth, as to so many others, that they 

 appear more distinctly in one indi\ idual than in an- 

 other, and lia\e conse(|uentI\' occasioned the designation 

 of the same sjiecies by a plurality of names. As a 

 rule the si^ines are most persistent on the posterior 

 bod^' bucklers. The plates of the dorsal line are most 

 curved, showing in young Sturgeons an acute-angled 

 transverse section; the jihites of the lateral lines are 

 least curved, especially in the anterior parts thereof; 

 the jilates of the ventral line, even during youth, are 

 most remote from each other. The surface of the 

 scutes is scabrous and both radialh- and concentrically 

 striated with cavities and ridges, calling to mind the 

 scale-texture we have seen above in the Eels. In the 

 dorsal and lateral lines the anterior scutes are shorter 

 (comyiaratively broader) than the posterior. The form 

 of the plates further \aries from the rhomb, wliich pre- 

 jionderates in the ventral lines and the anterior part 

 of the dorsal line, or hexagon (rhombs with truncated 

 anterior and posterior angles), which appears in the rest 

 of the dorsal line, to the semicii-cle or triangle, as shown 

 in the lateral lines. The foremost (properly the only'') 

 fulcrum supporting the anterior margin of the vertical 

 fins is linguiform in the dorsal and anal tins, with the 

 narrower end directed U[) the fin-margin; at the upper 

 and lower margins of the caudal fin the tongue is pro- 

 longated to a lanceolate form. The inconstancy in the 

 number of plates in the dorsal line before the dorsal 

 tin and in the lateral lines has been mentioned above. 

 Behind the dorsal tin 4 pairs are set, as a rule, in front 

 of the caudal fulcrum; but on each side of the posterior 

 part of the dorsal tin the small dermal jilates are usually 

 enlarged \vith age, so that a more or less regular row 

 of 2 or 3 plates, smallest in front, appears on each side 

 at this point, forming a forward continuation of the 



" BEi.dN (.Vrt/., Div. Poiss., \>. 89) also 

 at JIdiitargis to King Francis I. 



'■ I. e. of a texture tliat ilistinctly calls to mind tlie plat 



tions a specimen 18 feet long. A Sturgeon of tliia size was said to have been presented 

 the liodv. 



