142 Thirtieth Annual Meeting 



we caught parent fisli in June with eggs that woukl not have 

 been ripe for a fortnight, and others with eggs that would not 

 have ripened for a month or longer. 



5. The parent sturgeon do not seem to ripen their eggs well 

 in confinement, unless they are very nearly ripe when captured. 

 We found that the eggs of the fish that we Ivcpt in our pens 

 caked together and otherwise became very poor, if the fish were 

 too long confined, and the eggs would probably not have been sus- 

 ceptible to impregnation even if they had ripened enough to l)e 

 extruded from the fish. This point must not ha accepted yet as 

 conclusive, for it is quite probable, I think, that means will be 

 found eventually for keeping sturgeon in captivity withoiit in- 

 juring their eggs till they are ready to spawn. 



The spaw^ning season at the various spawning grounds of the 

 Lake Sturgeon is very short. They are doubtless spawning 

 somewhere all summer, but at any specified s])awning ground, I 

 do not believe that they are in the act of spawning over three or 

 four days. I have set wide limits in this paper to the period that 

 the spawning sturgeon remain on their spawning beds, in order 

 to be on the safe side, but I think that on a more thorough inves- 

 tigation, these limits will be very much narrowed. 



7. Unless some device has been adopted for forcibly retain- 

 ing the eggs in the ])arent sturgeon, it seems to be almost useless 

 to attempt to strip a ripe fish after it has once been lifted out of 

 the water alive. A few seconds of time and a few powerful 

 strokes of the tail are sufficient to throw all their eggs to the four 

 winds. If the eggs are ripe, it must be ascertained before the 

 fis]i is taken from the water, or the instant it is lifted from the 

 water. The vent can then be plugged, the fish put in a straight- 

 jacket, and the eggs taken without difficulty. We adopted various 

 ways of "plugging" the parent sturgeon, but after all. the most 

 effective way was to stuff a handkerchief instantly into the vent, 

 and keep it there. If this is done quickly enough it will be a 

 success. If something of the kind is not done or if the ripe stur- 

 geon is given any time to struggle, if only for a few seconds, the 

 eggs Avill !)(' lost. 



8. The eggs of the Lake Sturgeon, once they are taken, are 

 easily impregnated. It has frequently, in fact almost always^ 



