64 ' NEiW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Acipenser oxyrinchus Mitchill, Trans. Lit. «& Phil, Soc. N. Y. I, 462, 1815. 

 Acipenser oxyrMnctis De Kay, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 346, pi. 58, fig. 189 



(.young), 1842. 

 Acipenser sturio var. oxyrrliynclms Jordan & Gilbert. Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. 



Mus. 86, 1883. 



The common or sharp-nosed sturgeon has a stout, roundish 

 and elongate body, its hight equaling one half the length of the 

 head and one sixth of the total without the caudal. The least 

 depth of the tail equals one third of the greatest body depth. 

 The head is long, one third of total without the caudal, and the 

 snout is as long as the rest of the head in the young. The eye 

 is one sixth as long as the snout. Two pairs of short, slender 

 barbels midway between the mouth and tip of snout. The front 

 of the mouth is nearly under the posterior edge of the pupil. 

 The nostrils are double, the posterior pair more than twice as 

 large as the anterior. The dorsal and anal fins are placed far 

 back and opposite to each other. The distance of the ventral 

 origin from the end of the lower caudal lobe equals the length 

 of the head. The upper caudal lobe is nearly twice as long as 

 the lower. D. 38 to 40; A. 23 to 26; Y. 24. Lateral plates 27 

 to 29; dorsal shields 10 to 14; ventral shields 11 or 12. 



The color of the upper parts is dark olive gray, sometimes 

 brownish; the lower parts are light gray or whitish. The pupils 

 are black; the iris golden. 



The range of the common sturgeon includes the Atlantic 

 ocean southward to Africa and the West Indies. The northern 

 limit on our east coast appears to be Cape Cod. In the Dela- 

 ware river the fish has rarely ascended as far as Port Jervis. 



Dr Mitchill was the first to call attention to the similarity 

 between the American sharp-nosed sturgeon and the sturio 

 of Europe. The fish attains a length of 12 feet in America, and 

 it is stated that European examples measuring 18 feet have 

 been taken. 



The sturgeon ascends the large rivers from the sea in spring 

 and early summer. It is very common in the lower part of the 

 Delaware river, where it forms the object of an important fish- 

 ery. This is the species concerning which so many stories have 



