.462 MITCHILL ON THE FISHES OF NEW-YORK. 



arising from the lateral scaly rows, somewhat forward of the vent. Dor- 

 sal fin behind the scales near the tail, and composed of thirty-eight rays. 



Anal fin nearer the tail than the dorsal. Tail unequally forked, and 

 the larger division slanting upwards. 



Caudal, anal, lateral, and pectoral fins often reddish. 



The blunt snout grooved between the eyes. 



Twelve scales between the head and dorsal fin ; twenty-nine or thirty 

 on the upper side-rows between the gill-opening and tail. 



On examining the alimentary canal, the stomach was found very much 

 to resemble, in its strong and knobbed muscular organization, the giz- 

 zard of birds, and was filled with small bivalve shell fish. Roes, in the 

 female, blackish and very numerous, filling much of the abdomen. 



Frequents the Hudson, and, during the hot season, is remarkable for 

 leaping his whole length out of water, and splashing clumsily as he re- 

 turns. 



2. Sharp-nosed Sturgeon. {Acipenser oxyrinchus.) Having a penta- 

 gonal form, with scabrous asperities between the scales, and a sharp 

 snout. 



Agrees in many respects with the preceding species ; having, like it, 

 five sides and as many scaly angles. Whether the individuals now under 

 consideration, differ from the A. sturio merely in sex and age, has been 

 made a question. But the dissimilitude of the blunt-nosed and sharp- 

 nosed sturgeon, is very obvious. The mouth, nostrils, and eyes, are 

 different. 



The number of scales in the sharp-nosed sturgeon, is not so great as 

 in the blunt-nosed. On all the angles they are less numerous. The 

 skin is more scabrous. The asperities between the scales, are very dis- 

 tinct, and scratch the finger like a grater when moved along them, espe- 

 cially from tail to head. The points resemble the spiculae of minute 

 crystals, occupying much of the space between the scales. 



