ZOOLOGY. 14.'^ 



fish {auriculatus). The red rock-fish grows to weigh twenty 

 pounds; the other species rarely exceed fi)iir or five. The 

 wharf rock-fish is the only one caught in the bay ; the others 

 lire out at sea, in deep Avater and on rocky bottoms : they eat 

 crabs and shell-fish, and bite freely at hooks. They are always 

 in market, and their meat is excellent at all seasons. 



§ 114. Sturgeon. — We have three species of sturgeon, of 

 w^hich the only important one is the Californian' sturgeon {Aci- 

 peiiser hrachyrinthus), which sometimes grows to be seven 

 feet long and to weigh two hundred pounds. The sturgeon 

 is a sea-fish, which enters fresh water to spawn, but it is 

 caught in the bay of San Francisco and tributaries at all sea- 

 sons of the year ; whereas in the Eastern states there are sea- 

 sons for sturgeon in the market, as there are for beans and 

 peas. 



The sturgeon eats the slimy matter, both animal and vege- 

 table, at the bottom of the sea. It never bites, its mouth 

 being circular in form, and fitted only for sucking. It has a 

 habit of shooting up from the bottom and springing out of 

 water, and then falling flat upon its belly, making a loud 

 splash — very diflerent from the porpoise, wiiich also darts out 

 of the water, but always strikes head first, making little noise. 

 Some ichthyologists suppose that the object of the sturgeon in 

 thus falling on the water is to free itself from parasites ; others 

 that it is merely a kind of pLay. The spawning-season is not 

 known precisely, but it is probably from December to May. 

 The meat of the sturgeon is coarse, and in the market is worth 

 only about one-fourth or one-sixth of that of the better table 

 fishes ; but the sturgeon-fishery is profitable, because of the 

 abundance and large size of the fish. 



§ 115. Jeia-Fish. — The Jew-fish {^Stereolepis gigas)^ one of 

 the largest scale-fishes — weighing sometimes five hundred 

 pounds — is abundant south of Point Conception, and rarely 

 straggles as fiir north as San Francisco Bay. Only two have 

 been caught near the Golden Gate, and one of them filled the 

 city with wonder. It is a bottom-fish, living in deep and shoal 



