268 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
during slackwater, and the fish are hauled on board by means of stout, long-handled 
hooks made of five-eighth inch round iron. The fish usually reach the wharves at the 
beginning of ebb-tide, and are usually alive if they have not been too much exposed 
to the sun. The fish as soon as they are gilled make but little eflort to get free, being 
singularly tractable and manageable in spite of their great size, individuals of from 
9 to 10 feet in length being sometimes taken. The most usual size of the “ cow 
fishes ” or females is about 8 feet, and they are also stouter and longer than the 
males, which are usually shorter and more slender, ranging in size from 6 to 7 feet, 
with a slightly more narrow head, as is shown in the accompanying plates. 
The meshes of the nets used in gilliug the sturgeon measure 8 inches on a side, or 
16 inches across, when stretched taut These nets will gill fishes ranging in length 
from about 5 to 10 feet. The smaller blunt-nosed sturgeon, A. brevirostris, is never 
taken in these large-meshed gill-nets as far as I am aware, and, judging from the 
advanced condition of the reproductive organs in individuals only 20 inches in length, 
it is probable that it never reaches a great size in the Delaware. Upon special inquiry 
of old fishermen, I was not able to hear of any specimens of the short-nosed species being 
taken which had measured over about 3, or at most 4 feet. In such cases the females of 
this darker-colored, short-nosed species were found to have mature roes. 
11. THE SPAWNING FISH. 
The majority of the roe fishes which are brought in to the butchering floats are 
not quite ready to spawn. The nearly mature roe of such fishes is hard and firm, and 
the eggs have not yet ruptured the walls of the follicles and escaped into the general 
cavity of the body. The roes of such individuals are known to the fishermen and 
caviare dealers as “ hard roe.” The hard roe, as it is called, is the kind most prized 
by the packers of caviare. 
Occasionally fishes are taken in which the roe is quite immature. In such cases 
it is smaller in quantity than the kind mentioned in the preceding paragraph, and is 
worthless for caviare. 
Another kind of roe is that which is the most valuable to the flsh-culturist. This 
sort is the kind which is just mature and ready to be artificially fertilized. Most of 
the eggs of the ripe roe have ruptured their follicles, and as soon as the abdomen is 
cut open the ova escape in great quantities, to the amount of several gallons in the 
case of a large fish. The quantity of eggs yielded by a single fish may, in fact, vary 
between 5 and 15 gallons. Estimating by the number of pailfuls of hard roe, each 
holding 3 gallons, it may be assumed that the average is about 10 gallons. This is a 
fair estimate, as the average is probably a little above three pailfuls, each holding 
3J gallons. The eggs measure 2.6™“ in diameter, or a little less than one-ninth of an 
inch. At this rate we should find about 168,000 eggs to the gallon, and a total of from 
800,000 to 2,400,000, according to the amount of roe in a single fish estimated in 
gallons. 
The eggs, when in exactly the right condition, are globular, nearly a ninth of an 
inch through, and vary in color from a very light brown to a very dark brown. At 
one side a darker round disk may bo observed, the diameter of which is about one- 
rourth of the circumference of the egg. This disk is also quite as visible in ova which 
have not yet escaped from the follicles in which they were developed, as in the “hard 
