Species: Acipenser brevirostrum, Shortnose Sturgeon

Acipenser brevirostrum Lesueur, 1818

Shortnose Sturgeon

Body heavy, elongate, nearly cylindrical; head ends in a hard, elongate, conical snout that is relatively short and blunt, rounded when viewed from below, length before mouth ~ width of mouth; a small spiracle behind eye; mouth underneath, protrusible, with 4 conspicuous, short barbells before it, those without fringes; gill rakers elongate and pointed; one dorsal fin, well back near tail base; tail fin deeply forked, upper lobe (with a fleshy extension of the tail base) much longer than lower; anal fin 19-22; tail base short compressed, only partly covered with bony plates; pectorals low, pelvics at rear under abdomen; fins without spines; body with five rows of bony plates, one row along midback, one along midside, another along lower side; bony plates along top of back widely spaced (up to ½ length of plates), usually no plates on top of tail base behind dorsal fin, in a single row on side of tail base behind anal fin; 7-13 dorsal shields, 22-34 lateral shields.

Color light to dark brown, black to bluey black.

Reaches 143 cm.

Mainly in rivers but occasionally enters brackish and salt water.

Depth range: 1-25 m.

Canada to Florida.