ACIPENSEE STELLATUS. 393 



fin is higher than the dorsal ; the ventrals are shortest. The lower lobe of the 

 caudal is half the length of the upper lobe, which is nearly as long as the 

 head ; it terminates in a rounded point, as in the Sterlet. The colour is brown 

 above, the belly and shields are yellowish- white. The iris is yellow. 



This form is characteristic of the Black Sea, but is nowhere common. It as- 

 cends the Danube as far as Pesth, or, occasionally, to Vienna. It spawns in 

 spring. 



Acipenser stellatus (PALLAS). 



This species is known in Russia as the Sevruga, in Bavaria as the 

 Stemkausen, and in Austria as the Scherg. It is found in the Black Sea and 

 the Sea of Azov and their rivers, and is met with in the Caspian and the Rivers 

 Ural and Kur. Though it grows to the same length as the common Sturgeon, 

 it is a much lighter fish ; and at 'Astrakhan its weight, according to Dr. Grimm, 

 does not exceed thirty pounds, though exceptional fishes of twice that weight are 

 sometimes taken. When four feet long it weighs about twenty pounds ; but 



Fig. 183. ACIPENSER STELLATUS (PALLAS). 



examples as small as eight pounds are caught in Hungary. It is regarded on 

 the evidence of chemical analysis as the most valuable food fish of the Sturgeon 

 family, and is much esteemed. It begins to ascend the rivers early in March, 

 and great shoals often ascend the Danube for several weeks, but rarely get 

 beyond Komorn, though it goes up the Theiss to Tokay. It has been seen in 

 the Isar. It spawns in May and June, and, after spawning, most of the fishes 

 descend again to the sea, though some remain in the rivers, and they are 

 caught all the year round in the Danube. It feeds on worms, spawn, and 

 mud which contains the smaller forms of life. Hungarian fishermen state 

 that it lives from fifteen to twenty years (Fig. 183). 



Acipenser stellatus has a more slender body than any other Sturgeon, and 

 the snout is more slender and elongated. The head is as wide as the body, 

 but its diameter is less than half the length of the head. The fish is about 

 four-and-a-half times as long as its head, and the snout alone is nearly one- 

 sixth of the total length. Owing to the elongation of the snout, the upper 

 surface of the head is concave in front, and rises in a moderate convex curve 

 over the skull to the back. As in the other species, the back of the head is 



