CHONDR OP TEE YGIL 



ORDER I. 



CHONDROPTERYGII BRANCHES LIBERIS. 



FAMILY. 

 STURIONLLXE. 



ACIPENSER. Lin. 



Generic characters. Body elongated and angular, defended 

 by indurated plates and spines, arranged in longitudinal rows ; 

 snout pointed, conical ; mouth, placed on the under surface of 

 the head, tubular, and without teeth. 



A. oxyrinchus. Mitchell. The Sharp-nosed Sturgeon, 



Trans. Lit. et Thilosoph. Soc. N. Y. vol. i. p. 462. 

 Trans, of Amer, Philos. Soc. new series, vol. i. p. 394. 



In May 1838, I received of Mr. Freeman, fishmonger in 

 duincy market, a specimen of a sturgeon, which I suppose to 

 be the " oxyrinchus" Mitchell ; afterwards more minutely de- 

 scribed by Le Sneur. This fish was taken in Charles river at 

 Watertown, and measured 2 feet and 3 inches in length. All 

 the upper part of the body, of a grayish brown color ; inferior por- 

 tion of the sides, silvery ; beneath, white. Whole upper por- 

 tion of the head, bony ; irregularly marked upon its surface ; 

 five longitudinal rows of flattened plates, of the same structure 

 as the covering of the head, but of a lighter color. The lar- 

 gest plates form the dorsal ridge ; they are compressed at their 

 sides, and terminate above, in strong sharp spines, which are 



