246 ELEUTHEROPOMI. 



one about 6 feet long was captured last year and sent to him when in 

 London. It being a " Royal fish," he presented it to the Queen. 



I have also notes of the capture of sturgeons at Cushendall (Antrim), 

 Dundrum (Down), Dundalk, Carrick-on-Suir, and Wexford. 



In the County of Cork sturgeons have been frequently taken in the 

 Blackwater and in the Bandon rivers, but more rarely in the latter. Dr. 

 R. Ball has critically examined several Irish specimens, and is of opinion 

 that they are not only distinct from the two species which have been 

 recognised as British, but are undescribed : he has named the species 

 A. Thotujisonii. 



I am unable to reconcile the sturgeon which I have called Thompsonii with 

 the Sturio of Linnaaiis. I have collected a great many specimens, and the sub- 

 ject requires to be worked out. I do not think the broadness or sharpness of the 

 nose a specific distinction, as no two of my specimens can be said to agree in the 

 form of the nose, or the arrangement of the scales on the nose and head. Pos- 

 sibly more species than should be, have been made : I have now so many speci- 

 mens that, it may be, a classification of their variations will reduce Sturio, Thomp- 

 sonii, and latirostris to a single species. It would be desirable to get from the 

 Continent a true A. Sturio for comparison. — R. Ball, 2 June, 1855. 



" Sturgeons of fi-om nine to ten feet in length are occasionally seen in 

 the Dublin market." — R. Ball. 



The Isinglass Sturgeon, Acipenser Huso, Linn. 



In 1847 I contributed the following note to the Annals Nat. Hist., 

 vol. XX. : — 



" Isinglass Sturgeon, Acipenser Huso, Linn. — A notice of the occurrence of this 

 species on the coast of Cork, in July, 1845, was communicated to the Annals 

 (vol. xvi. p. 213) by Mr. John Humphreys of the city of that name. This gen- 

 tleman, as well as Dr. Harvey of Cork, who subsequently examined the speci- 

 men, assures me that it was A. Huso as represented in Shaw's Zoology, vol. v. 

 pi. 159. Mr. Humphreys has informed me of the capture of another specimen, 

 which was taken in the second week of April, 1847, at Carrigeen, near Curri- 

 glass, on the river Bride, not far from its junction with the Blackwater. It 

 measured 7 feet 8 inches in length, and weighed nearly 2 cwt." 



Shaw's description of this species is as follows : — 



" Isinglass Sturgeon, Acipc7iser Huso, Linn. — A larger fish than the common 

 sturgeon, having been often found of the length of 25 feet ; general shape the 

 same ; colour dusky, or blackish-blue above, silvery on the sides and abdomen, 

 with a tinge of rose-colour on the latter ; general appearance smoother than m 

 the common sturgeon, the dorsal tubercles being less protuberant, and those 

 along the sides much smaller, and in some specimens of a very advanced growth 

 altogether wanting; mouth much larger than in the A. Sturio, with thick 

 crescent-shaped lips ; skin smooth and viscid. Native of the Northern, Caspian, 

 and Mediterranean Seas, migrating from them into the adjoining rivers : found 

 moi-e particularly in the Volga and the Danube." — Shaw's General Zoology, vol. 

 V. p. 375, pi. 159. 



ORDER VII.— ACANTHORRHINI. 



No specimen belongmg to this Order has yet been recorded as Irish. — Ed. 



