surface, rising here and there into the appearance of short spines: the eyes are large, and of a whitish colour, with the iris radiated by several dusky stripes: the mouth excessively wide, with the lower jaw considerably longer than the upper: the teeth very sharp and numerous, both in the mouth and on the tongue : from the upper part of the head spring two or three long and linear tentacula or processes, situated in a longitudinal direction behind each other, and followed by a few shorter ones down the back: the sides or edges of the body are fringed, at intervals, with many shorter appendages of a somewhat similar nature: the pectoral fins are large, of a rounded and slightly scolloped outline, and are seated on very thick arm-like processes: the ventral fins are short, cartilaginous, of a whitish colour, and palmated: the dorsal fin is rather shallow and situated at the lower part of the back: the ventral is placed nearly opposite, and is of a similar appearance, but somewhat smaller: the tail is short and rounded. The colour of the whole animal on the upper parts is brown, with a few deeper and paler variegations, and beneath whitish. This fish is observed chiefly to frequent the shallow parts of the sea, lying in ambush, half-covered by the weeds and mud; in this situation it is said to move about the tentacula or long processes on the head, &c. in such a manner that the smaller fishes, deceived by their resemblance to worms, and attempting to seize them, become an easy prey to the lophius. This practice, which is mentioned by Pliny and others, induced Mr. Pennant, in the British Zoology, to distinguish the genus by the English name of angler.

[Willoughby. Pennant. Shaw.

SECTION XVI.

Sucker.

Cyclopterus gumpus.-LINN.

THIS singular fish increases to the weight of seven pounds, and to the length of nineteen inches: the shape of the body is like that of the bream, deep, and very thick, and it swims edgeways: the back is sharp and elevated, the belly flat: the irides are of a cherrycolour, the lips, mouth, and tongue of a deeper red: the jaws lined with innumerable small teeth; the tongue very thick: along the ridge of the back is a row of large bony tubercles; from above the

eye to within a small space of the tail is another row; beneath that a third, commencing at the gills; and on each side the belly a fourth row, consisting of five tubercles like the other; the whole skin is rough, with small tubercles; on the upper part of the back is a thick ridge, improperly called a fin, being destitute of spines; beneath that is the dorsal fin, of a brownish hue, reaching within an inch of the tail: on the belly, just opposite, is another of the same form; the belly is of a bright crimson colour; the pectoral fins are large and broad, almost uniting at their base; beneath these is the part by which it adheres to the rocks, &c. it consists of an oval aperture, surrounded with a fleshy, muscular, and obtuse soft substance, edged with small threaded appendages, which concur as so many claspers: (tail and vent fins purple.) By means of this part it adheres with vast force to any thing it pleases: as a proof of its tenacity, we have known, that on flinging a fish of this species, just caught, into a pail of water, it fixed itself so firmly to the bottom, that on taking the fish by the tail, the whole pail was lifted, though it held some gallons, and that without removing the fish from its hold.

These fish resort in multitudes, during the spring, to the coast of Sutherland, near the Ord of Caithness. The seals, which swim beneath, prey greatly on them, leaving the skins; numbers of which, thus emptied, float at that season ashore. It is easy to distinguish the place where the seals are devouring this or any unctuous fish, by a smoothness of the water immediately above the spot: this fact is now established, it being a tried property of oil to still the agitation of the waves, and render them smooth*. Great numbers of these fish are found in the Greenland seas, during the months of April and May, when they resort near the shore to spawn: their roe is remarkably large, which the Greenlanders boil to a pulp and cat: they are extremely fat, which recommends them the more to the natives, who admire oily food: they call them nipisets or catfish, and take quantities of them during the season. This fish is sometimes eaten in England, being stewed like carp, but is both flabby and insipid.

* See Phil. Trans. 1774, p. 445.

SECTION XVII.

Sturgeon.

Acipenser. LINN.

THERE are five or six species belonging to this genus, all of which afford excellent food. The three following, however, are the chief.

1. Common Sturgeon.

Acipenser sturio.-LINN.

This is a fish of very great size, growing to the length of eighteen or twenty feet; it is an inhabitant of the Northern, European, and American seas, migrating, during the early summer months, into the larger rivers and lakes, and returning to the sea again in autumn, after having deposited its spawn. Its form is long and slender; the body pentagonal, gradually tapering towards the tail, and covered throughout the whole length by five rows of strong, large, bony tubercles, rounded at the base, radiated from the centre, and terminated above, by a sharp curved point, in a reversed direction; of these five rows of tubercles, one is situated on the top of the back, and two on each side the body, the lowermost forming the edges of the abdomen, which is flat; the whole skin also, except on the belly, is roughened by very small tubercles of similar structure; the head is rather large, sloping on each side, and covered with bony plates; the snout long and slender, obtuse at the tip, and furnished beneath, at some distance from the end, with four long, worm-shaped beards or cirrhi; the mouth is placed immediately beneath the upper part of the head, and consists of a transverse oval orifice, totally destitute of teeth, but containing a thick and strong tongue, and is bounded above and below by a strong, cartilaginous edge or lip, which it has the power of retracting or closing at pleasure; the gill-cover, on each side, consists of an oval, radiated plate; the pectoral fins are oval, and middle-sized; the dorsal small, and situated near the tail; the ventral and anal fins are also small, and placed nearly opposite the dorsal; the tail is lobed or slightly forked, the upper lobe being strengthened above by a bony ridge or carina, and extending far beyond the lower the general colour is cinerous above, with dusky variegations

or specks, and whitish or yellowish beneath; the tops of the tubercles are also of a similar cast.

The sturgeon is generally considered as a fish of slow motion, and is observed to lie for a considerable time in the same situation; it even makes but a very faint resistance when first taken, except by sometimes striking with its tail, having great strength in that part; it is however, sometimes, seen to swim with considerable rapidity, and to spring with great force out of the water at intervals. During its residence in the sea, it is supposed to live principally on the smaller fishes, and particularly on herrings, mackarel, &c.; and in rivers on various kinds of worms, &c. It is rarely taken at any great distance from shore, but frequents such parts of the sea as are not remote from the æstuaries of great rivers. Catesby informs us, that in those of North America, sturgeons appear in great abundance in the months of May, June, and July, occasionally springing out of the water to the height of some yards, and falling on their sides with a noise that may be heard to the distance of some miles. In some of the rivers of Virginia, they are so numerous, that five or six hundred have been taken in the space of two days, by merely putting down a pole, with a strong hook at the end, and drawing it up again on perceiving that it rubbed against a fish *. According to Mr. Pennant and Dr. Bloch, great numbers are taken during summer in the lakes Frischhaff and Curischaff, near Pillau, in large nets made of small cord; the adjacent shores are formed into districts, and farmed out to companies of fishermen, some being rented for six thousand guilders, or near three hundred pounds per annum. Dr. Bloch informs us, that in France, the sturgeonfishery commences in February, in the river Garonne, on the coast of Bourdeaux, and lasts till July or August.

The sturgeon is admired for the delicacy and firmness of its flesh, which is white, and when roasted is thought to resemble veal; it is however generally eaten pickled; and the major part of what we receive in that state, comes either from the Baltic rivers, or those of North America. Of the roe, properly salted and dried, is prepared the substance known by the name of caviare, a superior kind of which is, however, made from that of a smaller species, hereafter to be described.

* Penn. Arct. Zool. Append. p. 106. Burnaby's Trav. 8vo. p. 15.

In our own country the sturgeon annually ascends rivers, but in no great quantity, and is occasionally taken in the salmon-nets; the largest recorded by Mr. Pennant, as taken in England, was of the weight of four hundred and sixty pounds. In its manner of breeding, the sturgeon forms an exception among the cartilaginous fishes, since, as before observed, it is oviparous; it is a very prolific fish, and the globules of the roe or spawn are about the size of hemp-seeds.

The sturgeon was a fish in high repute among the Greeks and Romans; and, according to Pliny, was brought to table with much pomp, and ornamented with flowers, the slaves who carried it being also adorned with garlands, and accompanied by music. The flavour of the sturgeon is said to vary according to the food on which it has principally fed; for which reason it is distinguished in Sweden, and other northern regions, into mackarel-sturgeon, herringsturgeon, &c. Dr. Bloch observes, that the Linnæan specific character of this fish is not quite correct, since the number of dorsal tubercles varies from eleven to thirteen; neither is the number of the lateral or ventral rows more constant, varying in a similar manner. Some have supposed the tubercles of the sturgeon to be annually cast, in the same manner as those on rays. It may be added, that the sturgeon is able to survive some days when taken out of water; the gill-covers being edged by a soft membranaceous border, which by closing accurately, prevents the access of atmospheric air to the branchiæ.

2. Isinglass Sturgeon.

Acipenser huso.-LINN.

A still larger fish than the common sturgeon, having been often found of the length of twenty-five feet: general shape the same; colour dusky or blackish blue above, silvery on the sides and abdomen, with a tinge of rose-colour on the latter: general appearance smoother than in the common sturgeon, the dorsal tubercles being less protuberant, and those along the sides much smaller, and in some specimens of a very advanced growth altogether wanting: mouth much larger than in the A. sturio, with thick, crescentshaped lips skin smooth and viscid. Native of the Northern, Caspian, and Mediterranean seas, migrating from them into the adjoining rivers found more particularly in the Volga and Danube.