346 NEW-YORK FAUNA. 



dominal series varying from five to seven, and often unequal in number on the two sides. Tail 

 covered with lozenge-shaped plates. 



Color. Dusky above, with faint traces of oblique bands. Whitish, and often with a reddish 

 hue below the lateral series. Belly white. Fins tinged with reddish. 



Dr. Mitchill, who first noticed this Sturgeon, supposed it to be identical with the sturio of 

 Europe, and therefore gave a slight and scarcely recognizable notice of this species. The 

 short description given by Lesueur agrees in the main with our Hudson river species, but I 

 regret that I have not had an opportunity of giving it a thorough examination. 



We know little of the range of this species. It is not mentioned in the able Report on the 

 Fishes of Massachusetts. I have seen it, or a closely allied species, in the markets at Nor- 

 folk (Virginia). 



THE SHARP-NOSED STURGEON. 



ACIPENSER OXYRHINCUS. 



PLATE LVni. FIG. 189. YouNS. 



The Sharp-nosed Stwgeon, A. oxyrhincus. Mitchill, Trans. Lit. and Phil. Soc. Vol. I, p. 461. 



Acipenser idem. Lesueur, Trans. Am. Philos. Soc. (New Series), Vol. 1, p. 394. 



The Sharped-nosed Sturgeon, A. id. Storer, Report on the Fishes of Massachusetts, p. 178. 



Characteristics. Snout elongated, spatuliform, and covered with strong bony shields. Length 

 two to seven and eight feet. 



. Description, from a specimen eighteen inches long. Body pentagonal. Skin rough, and 

 under the lens appearing minutely aculeated. Head flattened above ; slightly depressed 

 between the eyes. Snout produced horizontally, attenuated and rounded at the tip, and 

 covered with strong bony shields roughened above and beneath. The dorsal series largest, 

 and composed of nine distinct radiated tubercles, elevated into sharp spines pointing backward. 

 At the anterior base of the dorsal fin, another tubercle, but not so elevated, nor is it pointed ; 

 the central tubercles of this series largest. Lateral series composed of twenty-five radiated, 

 carinated, angular, saddle-shaped tubercles, largest about the middle of the body, and gradual- 

 ly decreasing to the tail. Abdominal series of eight angular tubercles, nearly of equal size. 

 Between the vent and the anal fin are four plates, and the same number between the dorsal 

 and base of the caudal. Eyes moderate, nearly equidistant between the end of the snout and 

 the base of the pectorals. Nostrils double, anterior to the eyes ; the inferior pair more than 

 twice the size of the other. Under the snout are two pair of short and slender barbels, mid- 

 way between the mouth and the tip of the snout. Mouth beneath, transverse, purse-shaped, 

 with thick folded lips, and very protractile. Opercle radiated. The dorsal fin arises anterior 

 to the origin of the anal ; its first ray highest, and longer than the base of the fin, deeply con- 

 cave on its margin ; its posterior ray attached by a membrane to the body. Pectorals short 

 and obtusely pointed ; its eighth and ninth rays from above, longest. Ventrals short, distant, 

 and placed under the fourteeth and fifteenth tubercle of the lateral series. Anal pointed ; the 



