68 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



THE STURGEON. 



THIS fish is fast becoming extinct, and I dare say 

 that the time will come when mounted specimens 

 will be carried through the country along with 

 other curiosities which usually accompany a men- 

 agerie. The sturgeon is the largest species of fish 

 that inhabits the fresh water lakes of this country. 

 It grows to a length of six feet, and in some in- 

 stances more, and frequently weighs over a hundred 

 pounds. It is also found in the large rivers flowing 

 into the ocean, and there attains a greater size than 

 the fresh-water variety. I have heard of specimens 

 weighing as heavy as four hundred pounds. 



During summer it is a great sight to see sturgeons 

 leaping from the water. They come straight up, 

 and look, at a distance, like great logs shooting up 

 full length above the surface of the water. This 

 they do, without doubt, for their amusement, as, by 

 the peculiar construction of their mouths, they can- 

 not obtain their food from the surface, as do many 

 kinds of fish, and I can, therefore, assign no other 

 cause for this strange action. Their mouth is located 

 on the under side of the head, and is toothless. 

 They obtain their food by means of suction ; that 

 is, they suck their food from off the bottom, and do 

 not grasp it, as do other fish except those belong- 

 ing to the sucker or carp families. The food of the 

 sturgeon consists of shell-fish, crabs, shrimp, and 



