'28i! CIANOIDEI. 



Nainc.-t. — iS/ »/■;/(•()» liiis been Jorivod from the Cun'nmn tonn " stiii'," ]H'i-1iii|is 

 from tlie verb " .stdvon," to poke or rniimmne about, ns it constimily iliu's with its 

 loiiix snout: in old works it was soinetinu'S spelt sloriji}i or slurjnini. I's/ico'ieii, 

 Welsh. Dc l>ti'in\ Duleh. L'Estiirjcoii, Kreueh. 



Habits. — A sluj^'u'ish, wnmleriuL;' tisli, which resides in tlio sea duriiif^ the 

 winter months and eounnenees iiseeudiuL;- rivers in the spi-iu<;', pvohablv for the 

 purpose of breeding-. On referrini;- to the months w hi'u sturt^'ecm have bm-n 

 captured in our wafers, I lind reeoi'ds in January and in e\ery month of tho 

 jeiir, although the most prolific would seem to lie M:\y. June, and July. In 

 Jiritisli waters it sometimes aseends some eonsiderable distance from the oi'ean, 

 thus one 8 ft. long and wi'ighing l'.)2 lb. was enplured at tho weir on tiu- Severn 

 ]ieai' Shrewsbury in lStl2. It lias also been known to aseend the 'I'vent as liigh ns 

 Noftingliam. It lives sometime after remo\al from its nntive element . 'i'lumipson 

 mentions one which lived thirty-six lunu's oat of wa.tiT, and was at last, killed by 

 being packed in ice to he sent to Livei-[iool, 18l.',l. Its snout isprolmbly employed for 

 routing in tho mud like swine on land. A. Selnitz olisei-vi's ( Nature, January, 

 1874, p. 171) that a peculiar plienonu>non observed, especially among the sturgeon, 

 is that of a kind of winter sleep. At the approach of tho cold weather they seek 

 deep portions of the river and remain there in a state of torpcn-, during which time 

 they secrete a viscid mneas which foruis a coating ovir the entire body, called by 

 the fishermen a pclis.sc. l)uriiig this period they appear to ent nothing, their 

 stomachs being invariably found to be empty, 'i'hompsou, 18l(i, fnund in tho 

 stomach of one "several S[ieciniens of miniitc crustncca. {Aiiijiliijioihi), the 

 remains of a shrimp-like species, fragments of jiorphyra (which prtdiably had liecu 

 growing on tho sandy bottom of tho sen), and a jierfeet minute Trlliiia tenuis: it 

 likewise contained some fine sand, with which also the intestines were wholly 

 filled." Parnell found a sea mouse, AphnHtita ciciilnitu, in fihe stonuieh of one 

 captured in the Tay. J\lr. t'liarles, of (Irosvenor Place, mi July 'Jdtli, l8(i;i, 

 presented one o ft. huig to the Zoologiciil Ganleus, where it lived until June, 

 1870, when it measured -i ft. 2 in. long and Nvcighed If lb. 



Means of cajitiirc. — It is occasionally taken iu salmon nets, and likewise in 

 stake nets, and mostly in estuaries, especially of tlui (>e\'cm ; while in the North 

 Sea some aro cajitared by trawlers. It may be ciipturcd by baits, and when 

 hooked does not resist to any great extent. I'Mrnoll says no instance has liceii 

 recorded of their being found (Ui lines, or of their taking a bait of any descripl icm, 

 although small lishes and worms seem fci be their principal food. In lirili.sh 

 Columbia Dr. Ford mentions how they take a bait. One It in. long, rroni tho 

 eye to the tip of the tail, w:is taken in June, 1880, in the 'riuinies angling with a 

 worm, and lias been prescr\cd. (Field, Api'il 'Jtli, 1881.) 



Fislwrics. — Those of the British Isles arc not important. AciMii-diTig to IM. 

 Danilovsky the value of the sturgeons annually ta.ki'u in I'airopcan Ivussla is iu 

 round numbers 8,00t>,000 roubles (a rouble 3/'J) worth: — Isinglass, OOO.ODO ; 

 dried spinal, 100,000; caviare, li,2,''iO,00() ; preserxcd m- sun-dried, .^,000,000. 

 While Grimm observes that they "have noti decreased perceptilily in (piantity 

 (numbers ?) but they have decrenscd iu si/e, in consequence of which tlie samo 

 weight of fish continues to yield smalhu' and smaller (puintitics of useful 

 products." (Fishing and Hunting in Russian Wati'rs, p. .'il.) 'The Urid l{iver 

 produces the best sturge(m. One-third of tho length of the Ural Kiver, from llio 

 Caspian Sea, belongs to the Clossaeks, who barricade it. at tJu; further extremity 

 in order to enclose the lisli in the vv:il.er licloiiging to them. In Oelolier tho fish 

 Ho up for tho winter, selecting deep |iln,ees, where they cuuigregale in large 

 numb(!rs. All along the v'wvr, ollicials (Cossacks), specially appointed, lock out 

 for these places (in Kussian callcMJ ijctoff). When th(!ri\er is eovcrcd w itli ic(^, 

 which is usually the easc\ about tho middlo of Dceeniher-, the Cossacks aro 

 summoned to begin to capture the lish, wlui assemble in thousands at the 

 furthest ])laco where they lie. They are armed with hai'pcxuis, em'ds, pikes, 

 and pointed iron bars. At, m, gun signal all the men rush to tho ''yel.oH'," e.'udi 

 one making a hole in tho ice with tho iron bn-rs, plunging in the hartuauis, 

 and waiting until they feel tho lish touch the harpoon, when they jerk it up 



