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STURGEON (Acipenser)

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 1053 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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STURGEON (Acipenser) , the name given to a small See also:group of fishes, of which some twenty different See also:species are known, from See also:European, See also:Asiatic and See also:North See also:American See also:rivers. The distinguishing characters of this group, as well as its position in the See also:system, are dealt with in the See also:article See also:TELEOSTOMES. They pass a See also:great See also:part of the See also:year in the See also:sea, but periodically ascend large rivers, some in See also:spring to See also:deposit their spawn, others later in the See also:season for some purpose unknown; only a few of the species are exclusively confined to fresh See also:water. None occur in the tropics or in the See also:southern hemisphere. Sturgeons are found in the greatest abundance in the rivers of southern See also:Russia, more than ten thousand See also:fish being sometimes caught at a singlefishing-station in the fortnight during which the up-stream See also:migration lasts. They occur in less abundance in the fresh See also:waters of North See also:America, where the See also:majority are caught in shallow portions of the shores of the great lakes. In Russia the See also:fisheries are of immense value. See also:Early in summer the fish migrate into the rivers or towards the shores of See also:freshwater lakes in large shoals for breeding purposes. The ova are very small, and so numerous that one See also:female has been calculated to produce about three millions in one season. The ova of some species have been observed to See also:hatch within a very few days after exclusion. Probably the growth of the See also:young is very rapid, but we do not know how See also:long the See also:fry remain in fresh water before their first migration to the sea. After they have attained maturity their growth appears to be much slower, although continuing for many years.

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Frederick the Great placed a number of them in the GOrland See also:Lake in See also:Pomerania about 178o; some of these were found to be still alive in 1866. See also:Professor von See also:Baer also states, as the result of See also:direct observations made in Russia, that the See also:Hansen (Acipenser huso) attains to an See also:age of from 200 to 300 years. Sturgeons ranging from 8 to 11 ft. in length are by no means scarce, and some species grow to a much larger See also:size. Sturgeons are ground-feeders. With their projecting See also:wedge-shaped snout they stir up the soft bottom, and by means of their sensitive barbels detect shells, crustaceans and small fishes, on which they feed. Being destitute of See also:teeth, they are unable to seize larger See also:prey. In countries like See also:England, where few sturgeons are caught, the fish is consumed fresh, the flesh being firmer than that of See also:ordinary fishes, well flavoured, though somewhat oily. The sturgeon is included as a royal fish in an See also:act of See also:King See also:Edward II., although it probably but rarely See also:graces the royal table of the ' See also:present See also:period, or even that of the See also:lord See also:mayor of See also:London, who can claim all sturgeons caught in the See also:Thames above London See also:Bridge. Where sturgeons are caught in large quantities, as on the rivers of southern Russia and on the great lakes of North America, their flesh is dried, smoked or salted. The ovaries, which are of large size, are prepared for See also:caviare; for this purpose they are beaten with switches, and then pressed through See also:sieves, leaving the membranous and fibrous tissues in the See also:sieve, whilst the eggs are collected in a tub. The quantity of See also:salt added to them before they are finally packed varies with the season, scarcely any being used at the beginning of See also:winter. Finally, one of the best sorts of See also:isinglass is manufactured from the See also:air-See also:bladder.

After it has been carefully removed from the See also:

body, it is washed in hot water, and cut open in its whole length, to See also:separate the inner membrane, which has a soft consistency, and contains 76% of glutin. The twenty species of sturgeons (Acipenser) are nearly equally divided between the Old and New Worlds. The more important are the following:- 1. The See also:common sturgeon of See also:Europe (Acipenser sturio) occurs on all the coasts of Europe, but is absent in the See also:Black Sea. Almost all the See also:British specimens of sturgeon belong to this species; it crosses the See also:Atlantic and is not rare on the coasts of North America. It reaches a large size (a length of 12 ft.), but is always caught singly or in pairs, so that it cannot be regarded as a fish of commercial importance. The See also:form of its snout varies with age (as in the other species), being much more See also:blunt and abbreviated in old than in young examples. There are 11–13 bony See also:shields along the back and 29-31 along the See also:side of the body. 2. Acipenser giildenstddtii is one of the most valuable species of the rivers of Russia, where it is known under the name " Ossetr " ; it is said to inhabit the Siberian rivers also, and to range eastwards as far as Lake See also:Baikal. It attains to the same large size as the common sturgeon, and is so abundant in the rivers of the Black and See also:Caspian seas that more than one-See also:fourth of the caviare and isinglass manufactured in Russia is derived from this species. 3.

Acipenser stellatus, the " Seuruga " of the' Russians, occurs likewise in great abundance in the rivers of the Black Sea and of the Sea of Azoff. It has a remarkably long and pointed snout, like the sterlet, but See also:

simple barbels without fringes. Though growing only to about See also:half the size of the preceding species, it is of no less value, its flesh being more highly esteemed, and its caviare and isinglass fetching a higher See also:price. In 1850 it was reported that more than a million of this sturgeon are caught annually. 4. The sturgeon of the great lakes of North America, Acipenser rubicundus, with which, in the See also:opinion of Americah ichthyologists, the sea-going sturgeon of the rivers of eastern North America, Acipenser maculosus, is identical, has of See also:late years been made the See also:object of a large and profitable See also:industry at various places on Lakes See also:Michigan and See also:Erie; the flesh is smoked after being cut into strips and after a slight pickling in brine; the thin portions and See also:offal are boiled down for oil; nearly all the caviare is shipped to Europe. One See also:firm alone uses from ten to eighteen thousand sturgeons a year, averaging 50 lb each. The sturgeons of the lakes are unable to migrate to the sea, whilst those below the Falls of See also:Niagara are great wanderers; and it is quite possible that a specimen of this species said to have been obtained from the See also:Firth of See also:Tay was really captured on the See also:coast of See also:Scotland. 5. Acipenser huso, the " Hausen " of See also:Germany, is recognized by the See also:absence of osseous scutes on the snout and by its flattened, tape-like barbels. It is one of the largest species, reaching the enormous length of 24 ft. and a See also:weight of 2000 lb. It inhabits the Caspian and Black seas, and the Sea of Azoff, whence in former years large shoals of the fish entered the large rivers of Russia and the See also:Danube.

But its See also:

numbers have been much thinned, and specimens of 1200 lb in weight have now become scarce. Its flesh, caviare and air-bladder are of less value than those of the smaller kinds. 6. The sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus) is one of the smaller species, which likewise inhabits both the Black and Caspian seas, arid ascends rivers to a greater distance from the sea than any of the other sturgeons; thus, for instance, it is not uncommon in the Danube at See also:Vienna, but specimens have been caught as high up as Ratisbon and See also:Ulm. It is more abundant in the rivers of Russia, where it is held in high esteem on See also:account of its excellent flesh, contributing also to the best kinds of caviare and isinglass. As early as the 18th See also:century attempts were made to introduce this valuable fish into See also:Prussia and See also:Sweden, but without success. The sterlet is distinguished from the other European species by its long and narrow snout and fringed barbels. It rarely exceeds a length of 3 it. The See also:family Acipenseridae includes one other genus, Scaphirhynchus, the See also:shovel-See also:head or shovel-nosed sturgeon, distinguished by the long, broad and See also:flat snout, the suppression of the spiracles, and the See also:union of the See also:longitudinal rows of scales posteriorly. All the species are confined to fresh water. One of them is common in the See also:Mississippi and other rivers of North America, the other three occur in the larger rivers of eastern See also:Asia.

End of Article: STURGEON (Acipenser)

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