 S 
« 
ACCTPENSER. 
ORDER a. 
Branchiæ free.—Cuvier. 
Genus ACCIPENSER. 
Characters 
Mouth beneath, retractile, toothless. 
Snout bearded beneath. 
Body elongated, with several ranges of bony tu- 
bercles. Lacepène. 
4. A. rubicundus, Head covered with bony plates 
which are rough, radiated, and irregularly configur- 
ated; above flat, declivous, and terminated in a eub- 
ruunded snout, which is furnished with four trans- 
versely flat cirri, nearer the end of the mouth: eyes, 
round; pupil vertical: back yellowish-red: sides oli- 
vaceous-red; body much elevated at the cervical tu- 
bercle: dorsal tubercles nine, the twa last arnte; side 
tubercles thirty-five, subequally placed, lozenge-sha- 
ped: plates none on the abdomen; several rudiments 
behind the dorsal fin: skin with small groups of 
spines, rendering it harsh to the touch when dry, 
but when recent, the spines are less sensible on ac- 
count of the mucous which covers them: operculum 
with a large radiated shield: behind the eyes small 
plates extending along the border of the snout; be- 
