128 STURGEON. Class IV. 



' The nofe is very long, (lender, and ends in a 

 point. The eyes are extremely fmall ; the noftrils 

 placed near them : on the lower part of the nofe 

 are four cirri or beards : the mouth is fituated far 

 beneath, is fmall, and unfupported by any jaw 

 bones ; neither has it any teeth. The mouth of a 

 dead filli is always open. When alive it can clofe 

 or open it at pleafure, by means of certain mufcles. 



The body is long, pentagonal, and covered with 

 five rows of large bony tubercles : one row of 

 which is placed on the back, and two on each 

 fide. The whole under fide of the fifh, from the 

 end of the nofe to the vent, is fiat ^ on the back, 

 not remote from the tail, is a fingle fin. It has 

 befides two peroral fins, two ventral, and one anal 

 fin. The tail is bifurcated, but the upper part 

 much longer than the lower. 



The upper part of the body is of a dirty olive 

 color i the lower part filvery ; the middle of the 

 tubercles white. 



In the manner of breeding it is an exception a- 

 mong the cartilaginous fifh, being like the bony 

 fifh oviparous, fpawning in winter. 



A ve.ry 



