CHAPTER VII 



THE STURGEON. 



"Who has uot learnt, freah sturgeon and ham-pie 

 Are no rewards for want and infamy ?" POPE. 



[THOUGH the STUBGEON, in its general form, 

 resembles the Squalidse, and in some respects 

 is allied both to shark and ray, and though 

 it is little inferior in size the Great or Isin- 

 glass Sturgeon (Accipenser huso) attaining the length of 

 twenty or twenty-five feet yet it differs from them con- 

 siderably in structure and habits. It has an elongated 

 and slender body, tapering gradually towards the tail ; 

 the snout is long and obtuse, and furnished beneath, at 

 some distance from the end, with four long worm-shaped 

 cirri ; its mouth, situated below and behind the muzzle, 

 is small and toothless ; and the upper jaw is formed by 

 the palatal bones. Its pectoral fins are oval, and 

 medium-sized ; the dorsal are small, and placed very near 

 the tail ; the ventral and anal are likewise small, and 

 nearly opposite the dorsal. The tail is slightly forked, 

 the upper lobe extending far beyond the lower. As for 

 the general colour of the sturgeon, it may be described as 



