THE COMMON STURGEON. 201 



armed from head to tail with five rows of large bony 

 tubercles, each of which ends in a strong recurved 

 tip : one of these is on the back, one on each side, 

 and two on the margin of the belly. The snout is 

 long, and obtuse at the end, and lias the tendrils 

 near the tip. The mouth, which is beneath the 

 head, is somewhat like the opening of a purse, and 

 is so formed as to be pushed suddenly out, or re- 

 tracted. The upper part of the body is of a dirty 

 olive colour; the lower part silvery ; and the tuber- 

 cles are white in the middle Sturgeons are found 

 both in the European and American seas. 



The tendrils on the snout, which are some inches 

 in length, have so great a resemblance in form to 

 earth-worms that, at first sight, they might be mis- 

 taken for them. This clumsy toothless fish is sup- 

 posed, by this contrivance, to keep himself in good 

 condition, the solidity of his flesh evidently showing 

 him to be a fish of prey. He is said to hide his 

 large body among the weeds near the sea-coast, or 

 at the mouths of large rivers, only exposing his 

 tendrils, which small fish or sea-insects, mistaking 

 for real worms, approach for plunder, and are 

 sucked into the jaws of their enemy. He has been 

 supposed by some to root into the soil at the bottom 

 of the sea or rivers ; but the tendrils above mention- 

 ed, which hang from his snout over his mouth, must 

 themselves be very inconvenient for this purpose; 

 and, as he has no jaws, he evidently lives by suc- 

 tion, and, during his residence in the sea, marine 

 insects are generally found in his stomach*. 

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* Note to Darwin's Botanic Garden. 



