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Meps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film^s A des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est filmd A partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants iilustrent la mAthode. : 1 2 3 f t C H9 I Received January 15, 1772. XVIII. /in Account of fome curious FiJJjes, Jent from Hudfon's Bay ; by Mr. John Reinhold Forfter, F. R. S, in a Letter to Thomas Pennant, Efq\ F, R. S. I Dear Sir, Read Jan. 28, 1773- T HE Governor and Committee of tlic Hudfon's Bay Company prefented the Royal Society with a choice colle(fi:ion of Ik ins of quadrupeds, many fine birds, and fome fifli, col- ledlcd by their fervants at the fevcral ports in Hud- fon's Bay ; the Committee of the Roynl Society, for examining and defcribing thefe curiofities, did me the honour to refer them to me for examination. I vvifli the following obfervations on the fifh, which I take the hbeity to addrefs to you, as a lover of Natural Hiftcry, and my remarks on the birds and. quadrupeds, may convey fuch informations concern- ing the zoology of North America, in the fludy of which you have made luch vail progrefs ; and ih particularize the animals of the Af^iic part of that vaft- continent, that nothing further may prevent 2 your. i . I '50] your favouring the public with the refult of your lludies on that /ubjed:. The four kinds of Hudfon's Bay fiOi are the Sturgeon, the Burbot, the Gwtniad^ and a new fi(h called the Sucker at Hudfon*s Bay. ' , The Sturgeon was about fourteen inches long, and therefore feems to be a young fifh j as it is like- wife obferved in the lift, written by the Gentleman who fent this Mi from York Fort. " - ' vr; •; Description. Its nofe is very long and flender, terminating in a point ; the eyes are fmall j under the projedting fnout, before the mouth, are four beards or cirri, placed nearly in the fame line, and not by pairs, as in fome other fpecies of Sturgeon. The mouth is beneath, nearly oppofite the eyes, toothlefs, carti- lagineous, femilunar when in its natural pofition, but round when open 5 on each fide are two noftrils. The whole head is depreffed, and very nearly quad- rangular j the whole body pentagonal, and tapering towards the tail 5 the whole fkin tough, covered - with iive rows of uncinated fcales j the dorfal feries conlifts of fourteen large roundifh fcales, and a iinglc one behind the dorfal fin -, each of the lateral rows has 35 oblique fcales ; in the two ventral rows are nine roundiOi ftrong fcales between the perioral and A-entral fins ; one fcale is behind the vent, and ftili : Another behind the anal fin, ^.. ■';.'■/ The hill, according to this -dcfcriptlon, fccms to come the neareil to that fpecies of Sturgeon which Ide. I I t -s- I I defcribcd in the Philof. Tranfadlons, Vol. LVIt. in my Specimen Hijkria Naturalis Volgeiijis^ N° lo.. under the name of Acipenfer Ruthenus major, rojiro elongate acuminato^ paululum fupino, and which the Rulijans call Sevruga. Kramer, in his Elencbus Ve- getabilium^ AnimaliumAuJiriaf^. 38 3 ► is the only writer that I know who takes notice ot this fpecies j he calls it Acipenfer rojiro acuto, corpore tuberculin jpinofis afpero : the inhabitants of Auftria call it Shirks a name they have no doubt borrowed from the Sla- vonian name Sevruga. The famous painter and tra- veller Cornelys de Bruyn mentions this kind of fi(h, but in fo fuperficial a manner, that one plainly fees he was little, if at all, ufed to difcuflions in points of Natural Hiftory. Fie fays, * ** the Sterlet is the " bell fifh in Ruffia ; there are two fpecies of it ; but, upon the whole, it is nearly related to the Sturgeon. The Sever ukas differ in nothing from the Sturgeon, which the Rufiians call A£etrina» The Caviar is made from the Beluga, the Af- ** Jetrinay and the SeverukaJ* Had de Bruyn exa- mined the Sevruga, he would certainly have found it materially different from the Qfetr or Ajfetrina, i. e. the common blunt- nofed Sturgeon of Germany and the Baitick. I fuppofe the Englifh Sturgeon, from your own defcription t? and the drawing in the Britilli Zoology, illuftrated by plates, tab. lxxxix. to be the fame with this kind from Hudfon's Bay, and with the Sevruga of the Ruffians, and the Shirk of the Auflrians. The trije Sturgeon, which gave * De Brifyn*s Voyage, Tom. I, &c. Amfterd. fol. p. 93, •} Br. Zool. odlavo, Vol. III. p. 99. • • ' \ tha- (( (( ({ n C 152 ] the name to the whole genus *, I think to be an unknown fifli in England. Th^fpecies of Sturgeons are more numerous than one is at firft aware of ; and it would therefore be of fome utility, that perfons, who have an opportunity of examining all the various kinds at Vienna, and in Ruffia, might do it with more care than has hitherto been done. Some of the forts which I have feen, 1 have fo defcribed that they may be known again ; fome I did not fee, and gave their chara(Sers from books, and from the reports of fuch perfons as had examined them. Mr. Klein, a very ingenious naturalift, has enumerated ten Sturgeons, in his 4th Mijfus Pifciuniy p. 1 1 — 16. and CountMarfigli,in his fplendidwork about the Danube, Tom. IV. gives the names ofatleaft fix Sturgeons, but the chara<5ters are not fufficiently fettled in both thefe works, Klein faw but two kii^ds of Sturgeons, and a third in fpirits ; and Count Marfigli was not enough of a naturalift to give adequate delcriptions of thefe fifli. Therefore it is certiin that a careful examina- tion and accurate account of the feveral fpecies of Sturgeons would greatly illuftrate the Natural Hiftory of this genus. - ^ The fecond of the Hudfon's Bay fifli, is called, by the wild natives of that country, Marthy^ and is nothing elle than our common Burbot, Gadus Lota, I;inn. only valtly fuperior in fize. The defcriptions •* The Germms call this fijli Stoer^ from the old Teutonic word ^tor or Stuhr, which fi^nifies great^ as this filh grows to a very large fizt.'. Thus likewift; the Scotch cfli the Tunny^ Miic- krel Sture, Vide hAr, Pennant's Tour in ScoiUmd, p. 192. you 1 ['53] you have given of this fifli, in the BritiHi Zoiilogy, is entirely correfponding with this fpecimen, fo that it would be fuperfluous to prefume to make any ad- ditions to it. I mud, however, obferve, that, after a moft minute examination, I could find no more than fix branchioftegous rays in the two fpecimens from Hudlbn's Bay, of which you mention feven in the Englifli Burbot, and Artedi as many in his fpe- cimens. This great naturalift feems likewiie to be right, when he obferves that the am, or beards on ^ the end of the nofe, are the valves to one cf the noftrilsj for I found that thefe beards, on their un- der-fide, opened into a hole, correfponding with the lower noftrjl. Mr. Andrew Graham, the colledlor of the Natural Hiftory fpecimens at Severn River in Hudfon's Bay, obferves, that thefe filh conftantly fwim clofe to the ground, and are extremely vora- cious J for he reprefents them as not content with devouring every fifli * they can overcome, but like- wife feeding on putrefying deer, or other carrion that comes in their way ; even (tones are fometimes fwal- lowed to fatisfy their infatiable appetite, of which Mr. Graham was himfelf a witnefs, having taken a ftone of a pound weight out of the ftomach of this fifh. The pike is often obliged to fall a vi \ The third fpecies of fifh, from this cold climate,. Is by the natives called Tickotneg^ and is our Gwiniad, or Salmo Lavarefus, Linn. ; only the fize is fomewhat bigger, for the greateft fpecimen fent over meafures- 1 8 inches from the head to the tip of the tail, is 44 inches deep, and not above an inch and | thick.. This fi/h differs in no circumftance from our Gwi- niad, but the length. You mentioned in your Britifh Zoology (Vol. III. p. 269.) a Ferra or Gwiniad from Switzerland 15 inches long, as an uncommon lize *5 the Hudfon's Bay fidi, as I have before ob- ferved, is 18 inches long, and 4.*- inches its greateft depth. The great abundance of food, and the fmall number of inhabitants, who let the fidi grow Up un- difturbed, are perhaps the caufes of their uncommon bignefs. They weigh from i f pound to 3 pounds, fay5 Mr. Graham ; but, 1 am fure, the filh I exa- mined muft, when frefh, have weighed more. Thefe fiHi abound in the River Severn in Hudfon's Bay, from its origin in the great lakes to its mouth, where it empties itlelf into the bay. The natives catch five or fix hundred a dayj by means of wears which they contrive in the river : they will not take bait, . and are poor at the breaking of the ice in the river. In the middle of the fummer, after a gale of wind, * Howevtr, the Gwiniads of Lapland, a fimilar climate to that of the Hudfon*3 Bay, are vaftly large. Brit. Zool. Ill, 167. note. 2 : they 1^55] they are often found thrown up into the marlhes, iinfl on the fhoals, where they remain at the recefs of the water and abating of the wind, and ferve as food tii numbers of crows. The inhabitants of Hudfon's Bay think this filh very fweet, and good to cat, contrary to the opinion of many Europeans. ;|i.. The fourdi and laft fifh brought from Hudfon's Bay is there called a Sucker, becaufe it lives by fuc- tion, according to Mr. Graham's account, who like- wife fays, that there are two varieties of this fi(h, both of a whitifti colour, but one diftinguifhed by a mixture of beautiful red. In the fmalleft of two fpecimens brought over, a broad ftripe of red could be obferved all along the linea lateralis. They are very numerous in the creeks and rivers, and troublefome in overburdening the nets. They are not deemed a palatable food, being very foft, and full of fmall bones. They weigh from one half to Jt| pounds. / ,v ; The above is literally what Mr. Graham fays of this fifh, and all that is known of its natural hiftory. Examining it carefully, I found it was a new fpeeies of the genus of Cyprinus, or Carp. The head is broader than the body, gradually de- creafing towards the nofc, full of elevations and tu- bercles, nearly quadrangular, and not fcaly. The mouth is quite under the head, as in the Lortcaria, when fliut, femilunar; ^vhen open, round; not far from the extremity of the fnout, and included ia fmall round lips. To the under-lip is fixed a bilobated, beard-like, papillofe caruncula ; it has no teeth. The X 2 eyes I [ 156 1 eyes are large, but the colour of the iris could not be determined. The number of the branchioflegouS' rays is three. The body is flat, tapering towards the tail, and fcaly. The greater fpecimen meafures very near 1 5 inches from the nofe to the extremity of the tail j next to the head it is nearly two inches thick, about the dorfal fin i ^ inch ; its greateft depth before the ventral fins is 2* inches. On the fnout are about five round prominent tubercles ; twa noftrils are found on each fide, the biggefl next before the eye is kid ney-fh aped. The covers of the gills are double, and divided ; the head has feveral lutures ; over each eye, in a cavity, are two longi- tudinal ones, joined oppofite the noflrils by a ftill fliorter tranfverfe one -, on the covers of the gills are. two, on each fide one, beginning near the lobes of the caruncula of the under-lip, and going up arched towards the eye. Near the extremity of the fnout begins on each fide a longitudinal oncj it pafTes under the eye, and mounts in a curvature behind it, thea it goes on itraight to the end of the head, where it again gets downwards, and joins the lateral line. Where the head joins to the body, thefe two futures are connected by a tranfverfal one, which, as it were, feparatcs the head from the body. The lateral line at firfl defcends from the head, but then runs on ftraight, rather nearer the back than the body, ta the beginning of the taD. The fcales are fmall near the head and back, increafing in fize towards the middle and tail, clofe to which they are again fmaller.. The dorfal fin is placed fomewhat behind the equi- librium of the fifh, rhomboidal, and confifling of tewclvfi ftrong. branched rays. The peroral fins are. £ A, " lanceo-^ IS Is F , , [ »S7 ] lanceolated, fixed under the covers of the gills, and have 17 rays. The ventral fins have 10 or 11 rays, and are placed in the middle of the belly, and under the dorfal fin. The anal fin confifts of eight branched ftrong rays. The tail is fomewhat forked or concave, and confifts of feventeen rays. I have been as circumftantial as poflible in de- fcribing this new fpecies, and join here, togethec with a drawing [See Tab. VI.], a Latin fcientific defcription of the fame. 1 am. With the trueft regard,. , ' Dear Sir, . . . : , >_ Your moft obedient,. humble fervants, Jn^ Reinhold Forfter. N*^ 2. Somerfet Stable-yard, Strand, January 12, 1772. Kara Thi^Jos. Tra/is. Vol LXm Tab VI //. /sy. t ' ■' , V.*,iftr f 'i-Jii^t c isn infra ^? Cyprinus Catoftomus. CvPRiNUS pinna ani radils VIII. lablo imo carun- cula bilobata papillofa, cauda bifida. Pinnae D. 12. P. 17. V. 10.— II. A. 8. C. 17. Habitat in Sinus Hudfonis fluminibus copiofe, fu- gendo pafcitur. Anglis, the Sucker. Descr. Caput fubtetragonum, verfus apicem fcnfim attenuatum, obtufiufculum, corpore fere craffius, & minus latum. Tubercula globofa, confcrtiora in apice roftri, circiter quinque ; carinata & acu- minata, in vertice fparfa. Foramina (five nares) gemina, quoruri alterum minus, alterum oculis proxi- mum, majus, reniforme. OciiU magni, ad marginem fuperficiei ver- ticalis capitis fiti, fere in medio intei.' apicem & bafin. Iridcs Opercula branchiaruni magna, nuda ; ^ at fub oculis opercula fpuria, primo in- tuitu pro radiis membranaj branchiof- tegae facile fumenda. F>iitun;e in capite plures catenulatae ; una utrinque brevis, fupra oculos, narefque, nee bafm nee apicem capitis attingens, c regione narium jundta per futurani tranlverfalcm breviflimam ; fecunda utrinque incipiens ad anguUirn loborum carunculjc, m \ 41 I 4i rM f^t ■*»l ' [ '59 1 I. carunculas, imo labio adnata, In oper- culo fpurio recurvatur, & prope ocu- los dcfinit : tertia utrinque incipiens prope roftri apicem, linea reda fub oculis dudla, dein curvatur & afcendit verfus verticem ; ibi rurfiis curvatur & jungitur linear iatcrali, pone aperturam branchialem defcendenti : conneduntur has duse lineae latcrales futura tranf- > verfa, quae caput a reliquo corpore di- ' ftinguit. Membrana Branchiojlcga^ radils tribus bre- vib'js, validis. Ri^us inferuSi lunulatus, feu f'emiorbicu- laris, labiis inclufus tenuibus, fuperiore (ore fcilicet claufo) concavo, inibriore convexo. Caruncula lata, labio inferioii adnata, crafliufcula, carnofa, papillis tedta, oris angulos ambiens, medio in lobos binos profunde divifa, GoRPUS' lateribus compreffiufculum, at verfus ab- domen magis compreflum, cuneiforme, capite ad caudam lenfim attenuatum, tectum fquamis minonbus, ovatis, ftri- atis verfus caput minimis, pallide ar- genteis, in quibufdam circa lineam la- teralem aureo-rubris. hinea lateralis rc6la, dorfo parallela, ad caput fuper aperturam branchialem ad- fcendens. Anus ■-;''***' [ ^6o ] Anus parvus, caudae multo proprior quam capiti. Pinna dorji pone aequilibrium nonnihil po- iita, rhomboidalis, radiis validis, ramofis duodecim. Pinna peStoraks lanceolatae, infra opercula iitas radiis 17 longitudine partem quar- tam totius pifcis (exclufis capite 6c Cauda) aequant. Pinna centrales radiis i o vel 1 1 oblongae, in medio ventris, fub pinna dorfali po- fita?, pinna pedtorali dimidio breviores. Pinna ani caudae propinqua, longitudine fere pinnae pedoralis, radiis odto validis, ramofis. Cauda lev iter bifurca, pinna m pedoralem longitudine & r imero radiorum sequans. Longitudo totius pifcis unciarum 1 5 pedis Anglicani. circiter 3 ante pmnas * Latitudo unciarum ventrales. Crqffities corporis prope caput unciarum fere 2, ante pinnam dorfalem uncite & quadrantis. P. S. Befides the above-mentioned iifli, the fer- vants of the Hudfon's Bay Company have likewifc fent over from thence the common River CrayfiJJi (Cancer Aftncus, Linn.), which, in every particular, ^orrefponds with the Englifh one. Received