1060 



SCAXDINAVIAX FISHES. 



iiiof youth is ;iliout a5 "»" . in old s])eciiuons Mhout (iS — 

 (io % of t!i;it of the iipctonil Has. At the l)ase nf th( 

 anterior margin are set two sh(jrt and tliick sujijiortin^ 



the f)h)ck Sea'', is douhtfuL Xeitlier Heckkl and Kxeh 

 nor XiiHDMANX found it tliere''. hi the Baltic, m: the 

 otliei' hand, it makes its wa^- to the liead of the (iulf 



rays, .simihir to fidci-a, and tiie following- I! or 7 simple of Bothnia, according to a stateiaent liy Wideghex', even 



rays gradually increase in length out to tlie tip of the tin. up the Tornea Elf. Now and then it is met with off 



I^oth in foi-m and structure the ventral tins are thus not all parts of the east coast of Sweden as well as on the 



unlike tlie vertical. Tlie pi'eal)dominal length measures j Finnish coast, and occasionalh- it ascends into the Swc- 



ahoiit .1.) — 'M "„, tlie |iostabdonrinal about 12 ?s, of the i dish lakes^: Init it is common in the Baltic pi'oper oidy 



length of the body. The latter (the distance between j to tlie soutli and in the German rivers falling into those 



the anterior margins of the \cntral and anal tins) is, i waters''. It is common in all Danish waters, says \\'in- 



however, not fully entitled to the above name, for the theh; but as the r)anes do not ply any special Stur- 



vent lies i-ather far in front of the begiiuiing of the geon-tishery, it is not seen very often. The case is the 



anal fin, the distance lietween them being f) — 7 % of I same throughout the west coast of Sweden, especially 



the length of the body. off Mount Kullen and in Laholm Bay; and in the Gota 



The coloratifju of the Sturgeon is simple, its salient Elf it has been found at Lilla Edet, 33 miles above 



Gotheid^urg (Nii.ssox). In Norway too the same ob- 



features calling to mind that of the Codfishes''. The dor- 

 sal side is of a reddish or bluish gray, gradualh" paling 

 down the sides of the body, though a distinct boundar}-- 

 line, about half-way between the plates of the lateral 

 lines and those of the ventral margins, divides this colour 

 from that of the belly, which has a bluish tinge above, 

 sometimes with a silvery lustre, and below is pure white. 

 Above the ventral fins, however, runs a bi-oad stripe, in 

 an obliquely forward direction, joining the bases of these 

 fins to the dorsal coloration. In young Sturgeons Kro- 

 YER found, "between the plate-rows of the doi-sal and 

 lateral lines, blackish spots, giving this part a chequered 

 appearance". The outer parts of tlie fins are of a more 

 or less pronounced ash-gray, becoming paler towards 

 their bases. The pectoral fins are darkest, but share, 

 as well as the dorsal and c^andal, in the coloration of 

 the back ; the ventral and anal fins are palest. The iris is 

 of a brassy yellow; tlie black pu])il has a dash of green. 

 The Sturgeon is a salt-water fish \vitii the migratory 

 instinct of the Salmons, an anadromous form that as- 

 cends from the Atlantic into the rivers of North ."Ame- 

 rica and Europe in order to spawn. Fi'om the Atlantic 

 its range extends into the Baltic and the Mediterranean 

 including the Adriatic Sea. VVhetlier it penetrates into 



sei-vation has been made: the Sturgeon is not taken 

 any\vhere in numbers, but solitary specimens are fre- 

 quently- met with throughout the coast-line, both in the 

 sea and the river-mouths, even east of the North Cape 

 (CoLLETT and Storm). (_)ff Iceland it is rare. It is 

 common enougli in the rivers running from the east 

 into the North Sea. In Great Britain and Ireland it is 

 not much commoner than in Sweden; but into the 

 Fi-ench rivers with a westward course, especially into 

 the Garonne, the Sturgeon ascends more frequently and 

 in greater numbers (MoREAu). Its most constant habitat 

 lies, however, in the Mediterranean and Adi'iatic as well 

 as the rivers flowing into these seas. ( )n the cast coast 

 of North America its range extends from Cape (.'od to 

 Florida. A fresh-water form, considered to be a distinct 

 species'', inhabits the ^lississippi Valley, the Great Lakes 

 with their feedei's, and the basin of the Albany Hiver. 

 On one occasion this American Sturgeon is supposed to 

 have extended its wanderings into Scotch waters, and 

 Glxtmer' Avas of opinion that the young Sturgeon from 

 Boiiuslan, described by Malm under the name of Aci- 

 penscr sfiirioidef:, should be referred to this sjiecies. So 

 wavering are the specific distinctions within the genus; 



" Sometiiiics 50, acconliug lo Krbyeu. 



' Tlio name of ovla/.og was thus applied by tlie aneienl Greeks butli to L'odtislies and the Slnryeoii. 



' Gkimm, 1. c., states that it occurs there. 



'' In the Black Sea and the Danube lives a species very nearly allied to the Sturgeon, the Ossetr {Toks, Acipenser Oitldenslinltii), whicli 

 has a broader mouth. Cf. below, as to the difference between the American fresh-water Sturgeon and the present Sturgeon. 



' Landtbr. Akad. HantU., 18:de delen (1858), p. 181. 



f According to Lilueborg a specimen has been fouml in Lake Limmar (Roslagen, just south of Norrtelje). 



" In the Baltic Provinces of Russia the Sturgeon is rare, according to Seidlitz, Fauna Baltica, p. 89. 



'' Acipenser rubicundus = Ac. maculosus. .\ecording' to Milnee it has a broader mouth than onr Sturgeon. No other dislinttion of 

 any signiticanoe seems to be given between tlieiii. 



' Vat. Brit. Mks., Fish., vol. VIU. p. 38il. note. 



