CHAPTER LIX 
THE ORDER OF STURGEONS 
GLANIOST OMI 
A sturgeon is a big, shark-like, wedge-headed 
fish, which looks as if Nature had once decided 
to cover it with a bullet-proof suit of bony armor, 
but, after setting three or four rows of plates on 
each side, had grown weary of the task, and aban- 
doned it. Had the plan been wrought out to a 
finish, it would now be necessary to skin every 
sturgeon with an axe. 
The mouth of a sturgeon is situated under- 
neath the head, and is provided with long, sucker- 
sturgeons are distributed at intervals throughout 
the northern portion of the north temperate zone, 
across America, Europe and Asia. The American 
species are but four in number. 
The Lake Sturgeon 1 is from 5 to 6 feet in aver- 
age length, weighs from 30 to 40 pounds, and in- 
habits the great lakes and adjacent connecting 
waters of good depth. 
The Short-Nosed Sturgeon 2 is a salt-water 
species, found along our Atlantic and Gulf coasts, 
LAKE STURGEON. 
like lips, for taking food off the bottom. The 
principal food of sturgeons is small, thin-shelled 
mollusks, and other fishes are not eaten save on 
occasions so rare they are not worthy of note. 
From the coast of California to the Caspian Sea, 
wherever they are found, sturgeons are fishes of 
desirability, and of commercial value in direct 
proportion to their size. Their smoked flesh is 
by many considered equal in flavor to halibut, 
and “caviar” is only the society name of air- 
tight sturgeon eggs. The twenty living species of 
427 
from Cape Cod to Texas. This is a small species, 
only about 2 feet in length, and is of no importance. 
The Common Sturgeon 3 of our Atlantic coast 
is the largest and most valuable member of this 
Order in American waters. It attains a length 
of 10 feet, and 500 pounds in weight, and to-day 
at Wilmington, Delaware, its centre of abundance, 
a large specimen represents about $75 worth of 
commercial value. The most valuable part is the 
1 Ac-i-pen'ser ru-bi-cun'dus. 
2 A. bre-vi-ros'tris. 3 . 4 . stu'ri-o. 
