Fishes. 

 II. Cartilaginous Fishes. 



THE STURGEON, (Aclpenser sturio,) 



SOMETIMES grows to the length of eight or ten feet, and 

 has been found to weigh five hundred pounds. It has 

 a long, slender, pointed nose, small eyes, and a small 

 mouth destitute of teeth, placed beneath and unsup- 

 ported by the maxillae ; so that when the animal is dead, 

 the mouth remains always open. The body is covered 

 with five rows of large bony tubercles, and the under 

 side is flat ; it has one dorsal fin, two pectoral, two ven- 

 tral, and one anal. The upper part of the body is of a 

 muddy olive colour, and the under part silvery. The 

 tail is bifurcated, the upper part being much longer 

 than the under. Sturgeons subsist principally on insects 

 arid marine plants, which they find at the bottom of the 

 water, where they mostly resort. 



The Sturgeon annually ascends our rivers in the sum- 

 mer, particularly those of the Eden and Esk ; and when 

 caught, as it sometimes is, in the salmon-nets, it scarcely 

 makes any resistance, but is drawn out of the water 

 apparently lifeless. One of the largest Sturgeons ever 

 caught in our rivers was taken in the Esk a good many 

 years ago : it weighed four hundred and sixty pounds. 

 This fish is found in most of the rivers in Europe ; it is 

 also common in those of North America, and especially 

 in the lakes and rivers of Northern Asia. 



The flesh of the Sturgeon is delicious ; and it was so 

 much valued in the time of the Emperor Severus, that it 



