190 First Annual Report of the 



Spawning takes place in the Delaware during May. The eggs 

 are deposited in depths of one to five fathoms on hard bottom in 

 brackish or nearly fresh water. Professor Ryder states that the 

 eggs are extruded by rubbing the belly either against hard places 

 on the river bed or against the rough bodies of the males, two 

 or more of which accompany each female. The gravid roe fish 

 are larger than the males. Professor Ryder found the ova more 

 or less adhesive immediately after their removal from the abdo- 

 men, but the sticky mucus covering is soluble in water. The 

 period of hatching varies from four to six days. 



Up to the third month of its life the young sturgeon has 

 minute conical teeth in its jaws, and at this age it is believed to 

 subsist on " rhizopods, unicellular algae, infusoria, minute 

 larvae of insects and worms, crustaceans, etc." Still following 

 the observations of Professor Ryder, we learn that the sturgeon, 

 when it has reached a length of one inch to one and one-half 

 inches, has minute teeth on the floor of the pharynx and feeds 

 on small water fleas, and probably algae, worms, embryo fishes, 

 insects and fresh-water copepods. Later in life the fish seeks 

 larger crustaceans, and the adults occasionally contain fragments 

 of mussel shells. The young fish have been caught under the 

 ice in midwinter, and are known to pass most of the year in fresh 

 water. 



A single small example of this sturgeon was brought to the 

 New York Aquarium from Gravesend bay May 13, 1896, and 

 was alive and in good condition in November, 1898. 



Dr. Smith records the occurrence of the species along with the 

 common sturgeon at Wood's Hole, Mass., but says it is less 

 numerous. It is captured in the traps. 



On March 18, 1911, Mr. Walter Flicker, of Maiden, N. Y., 

 wrote me that he hoped to show that this species is plentiful in 

 the Hudson river. He stated that it spawns on a rough, muddy 

 bottom in deep water where there are plenty of sticks and cinders. 

 He believes it begins to spawn about May 15th. It does not spawn 

 as quickly as some other fish, but appears to take some time. He 

 claims that it can be found in the Hudson throughout the year. 



On March 22, 1911, Mr. Flicker delivered two females and 

 one male to the foreman of the Linlithgo Station, and during the 



