224 "PERFECT-MOUTHED" FISHES 



a dog-fish ; it has a long snout, rather broad and flat, and having 

 on its under surface a row of fleshy barbels. Its bony armour is 

 represented by five rows of large, flat plates, which clothe its back 

 and sides. There are about twenty species of sturgeon ; a few 

 are fresh- water dwellers, but others live in the sea, migrating, 

 however, to the rivers to spawn. They are extraordinarily pro- 

 lific fish, a single female being said to be capable of producing 

 about 3,000,000 eggs in a season. The largest member of the 

 family is the Great Russian Sturgeon, which may weigh as much 

 as 2,760 or even 3,200 lb., and measure upwards of 18 feet. The 

 smallest is the Sterlet ; this rarely exceeds 3 feet in length, but 

 is nevertheless the most highly prized of all the sturgeons, which 

 are of considerable economic importance. 



The Bony Pikes are confined to the fresh waters of North 

 America, and are common in the lakes and rivers from Vermont 

 to the Rio Grande. The genus includes the Long-nosed Gar- 

 Pike, the Short-nosed Gar, and the Great or Alligator Gar, 

 which sometimes reaches a length of 8 or 10 feet. These 

 fishes are distinguished by their mail-clad skins and elongated 

 bodies ; their beak-like jaws are furnished with bands of sharp, 

 slender teeth, unequal in size. They are said to be very trouble- 

 some in becoming entangled in and breaking the nets set for catch- 

 ing sturgeon, but in the larval state they do a certain amount 

 of good by devouring the larvae of mosquitos, which abound in 

 the shallow waters. The eggs are always deposited in shallow water, 

 which in the spawning season is often swarming with Bony Pike, 

 both males and females journeying thither in large numbers from 

 the .deeper parts of the lakes and rivers ordinarily frequented 

 by them. The Bony Pikes belong to the family Lepidosteida 

 and must not be confused with the Belone, another family of fishes 

 belonging to the Teleostei common on our coasts, which are also 

 termed " Gar-Pikes." 



The Bow-fin (Amia calva) is the sole living representative of 

 the AmiidcB family. It haunts the lakes and rivers of central and 

 southern North America, and is extremely interesting on account 

 of its nest-making habits. The fish is about 24 inches long (the 

 male being smaller), is clad in the usual bony armour, though the 

 scales are considerably thinner than in the sturgeon and bony 

 pikes, and bears on the throat two curious comb-like structures. 



