Fishes of the Western North Atlantic 49 



The St. Lawrence River specimens noted in the Study Material^ 65-2,670 mm 

 TL, weighed 0.0015—352 pounds (0.7—160 leg). Every year in the St. Lawrence River, 

 Quebec, some Atlantic Sturgeons weighing between 200 and 300 pounds are taken 

 by local fishermen. The two largest specimens at our disposal were taken in the 

 brackish section of the St. Lawrence River at Ile-aux-Patins in a fascine weir.^* A spent 

 female^' 8 feet 3 inches TL (7 ft. 7 in. FL) and weighing 203 pounds was taken 

 July 5, 1946. Another female, almost ready to spawn, 8 feet 9 inches TL (8 ft. 2.5 

 in. FL) and weighing 352 pounds, was caught June 23, 1954. 



Development and Growth. Eggs hatch in about one week at a temperature of i 7.8° C 

 (64° F). In one of the New York hatcheries where some fry were kept until they were 

 about an inch long, the yolksac apparently lasted for about six days.** Unfortunately, the 

 temperatures were not recorded. The newly hatched fry are about 1 1 mm (0.4 in.) 

 long. The later growth of young oxyrhynchus has not been followed, but in Europe 

 A. sturio reach a length of 4—5.5 inches in two months. 



Little is known about the early stages of oxyrhynchus in nature, but it appears 

 that yearlings grow rather rapidly, for in freshwater sections of the St. Lawrence River 

 in Quebec we collected some young specimens ranging between 60—96 mm FL 

 that we consider to be less than one year of age (see Table iii). The smallest of 



Table IIL Data for the Five Smallest Specimens from Fresh Water, 



St. Lawrence River. 

 Date Place TL 



(mm) 



Aug. 8, 1945 Berthier-en-Bas, fresh water 65 



Aug. 24, 1 9 50 St. Vallier, fresh water 96 



Sept. 26, 1944 Berthier-en-Bas, fresh water 103 



Sept. 26, 1944 Berthier-en-Bas, fresh water 1 02 



Sept. 22, 1944 Riviere Quelle no 



these was tangled in one corner of a net with 8-inch stretched mesh, set in 60 feet of 

 water. The others were taken in peches, that is, weirs made from chicken wire or 

 fascines. Berthier-en-Bas and St. Vallier are on the freshwater section of the St. Law- 

 rence River. Riviere Quelle is situated at the estuary of the river of the same name, 

 which empties into the brackish section of the St. Lawrence. Additional information 

 about the growth of young fish that we consider to be yearlings is given in Table iv. 



Determinations of the apparent growth rates of A. oxyrhynchus tagged in the 

 St. Lawrence are made difficult because of damage to their tails. *i However, instances 



38. Taken by Mr. Maurice Ouellet, Kamouraska, Quebec, a Sturgeon fisherman. 



39. The ovaries of this fish weighed 30 pounds. 



40. Eighth Annu. Rep. Comm. Fish., New York (1S75), 1S76: 12-14. 



41. In Quebec, fishermen who catch Sturgeon in a peche built in salt water at St. Andre de Kamouraska carry them 

 alive in a horse-drawn cart ("tombereau" locally) for about 30 minutes and dump them in a freshwater brook. 

 But if one of them is a tagged fish, it is measured and weighed and returned to the sea by horse-cart after a 

 sojourn of a few hours to one or two days in the brook. On a hot summer day, fish in the cart thrash so 



