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--089e0122f7240c407d051f6a4de1 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 When Billy Digout emailed me and said friends of his found something odd on the beach near Walkerville, Rich. Co., I was cautiously excited. As soon as I opened the package I knew it had to be a sturgeon! I devote about ten minutes to the sturgeons and their allies in my Comparative Anatomy course, and among other things I emphasize that these Bony Fish actually have a skeleton of cartilage. I now know that the head skeleton is covered by hard plates. Nothing like hands on experience to add to the learning experience (mine in this case, my new students will get to see this specimen in the future). I alerted DFO, and biologist Daphne Themelis got back to me. Based on the size of the skull, she estimated the animal to be some 20 years old (which I believe is about when they start to mate) and around 1.6 metres, total length. Still hooked onto the end of the skull was some skin with the characteristic scutes and some free scutes were found nearby as well. All will be a nice addition to our collection here at StFX. We did not have any sturgeon material in our collection up to this point - so not just a new species, but a whole new group of fishes (Chondrosteans) are now represented here. I want to thank the Burke family for reporting, collecting and temporarily housing this very special find. Randy Lauff _________________________________ RF Lauff Way in the boonies of Antigonish County, NS. --089e0122f7240c407d051f6a4de1 Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <div dir=3D"ltr"><font size=3D"4">When Billy Digout emailed me and said fri= ends of his found something odd on the beach near Walkerville, Rich. Co., I= was cautiously excited.</font><div><font size=3D"4"><br></font></div><div>= <font size=3D"4">As soon as I opened the package I knew it had to be a stur= geon! I devote about ten minutes to the sturgeons and their allies in my Co= mparative Anatomy course, and among other things I emphasize that these Bon= y Fish actually have a skeleton of cartilage. I now know that the head skel= eton is covered by hard plates. Nothing like hands on experience to add to = the learning experience (mine in this case, my new students will get to see= this specimen in the future).</font></div><div><span style=3D"font-size:la= rge"><br></span></div><div><span style=3D"font-size:large">I alerted DFO, a= nd biologist Daphne Themelis got back to me. Based on the size of the skull= , she estimated the animal to be some 20 years old (which I believe is abou= t when they start to mate) and around 1.6 metres, total length.</span><font= size=3D"4"><br></font></div><div><font size=3D"4"><br></font></div><div><f= ont size=3D"4">Still hooked onto the end of the skull was some skin with th= e characteristic scutes and some free scutes were found nearby as well. All= will be a nice addition to our collection here at StFX. We did not have an= y sturgeon material in our collection up to this point - so not just a new = species, but a whole new group of fishes (Chondrosteans) are now represente= d here.</font></div><div><font size=3D"4"><br></font></div><div><font size= =3D"4">I want to thank the Burke family for reporting, collecting and tempo= rarily housing this very special find.</font></div><div><font size=3D"4"><b= r></font></div><div><font size=3D"4">Randy Lauff<br></font><div><font size= =3D"4"><br></font></div><div><span style=3D"font-size:large">______________= ___________________</span><br></div><div><div><div class=3D"gmail_signature= "><font size=3D"4">RF Lauff<br>Way in the boonies of<br>Antigonish County, = NS.</font></div></div> </div></div></div> --089e0122f7240c407d051f6a4de1--
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