ZOOLOGY. 148 
fish (aurtculatus). The red rock-fish grows to weigh twenty 
pounds; the other species rarely exceed four or five. The 
wharf rock-fish is the only one caught in the bay; the others 
live out at sea, in deep water and on rocky bottoms: they eat, 
crabs and shell-fish, and bite freely at hooks. They are always 
in market, and their meat is excellent at all seasons. 
§$ 114. Sturgeon —We have three species of sturgeon, of 
which the only important one is the Californian sturgeon (Aci- 
penser brachyrinthus), which sometimes grows to be seven 
feet long and to weigh two hundred pounds. The sturgeon 
is a sea-fish, which enters fresh water to spawn, but it is 
caught in the bay of San Francisco and tributaries at all sea- 
sons of the year; whereas in the Eastern states there are sea- 
sons for sturgeon in the market, as there are for beans and 
peas. 
The sturgeon eats the slimy matter, both animal and vege- 
table, at the bottom of the sea. It never bites, its mouth 
being circular in form, and fitted only for sucking. It has a 
habit of shooting up from the bottom and springing out of 
water, and then falling flat upon its belly, making a loud 
splash—very different from the porpoise, which also darts out 
of the water, but always strikes head first, making little noise. 
Some ichthyologists suppose that the object of the sturgeon in 
thus falling on the water is to free itself from parasites; others 
that it is merely a kind of play. The spawning-season is not 
known precisely, but it is probably from December to May. 
The meat of the sturgeon is coarse, and in the market is worth 
only about one-fourth or one-sixth of that of the better table 
fishes; but the sturgeon-fishery is profitable, because of the 
abundance and large size of the fish. 
§ 115. Jew-Fish—The Jew-fish (Stereolepis gigas), one of 
the largest scale-fishes—weighing sometimes five hundred 
pounds—is abundant south of Point Conception, and rarely 
straggles as far north as San Francisco Bay. Only two have 
been caught near the Golden Gate, and one of them filled the 
city with wonder. It is a bottom-fish, living in deep and shoal 
