Species: Acipenser oxyrinchus, Atlantic Sturgeon

Acipenser oxyrinchus Mitchill, 1815

Atlantic Sturgeon

Body heavy, elongate, nearly cylindrical; head ends in a hard, elongate, conical snout that is relatively long and pointed when viewed from below, length before mouth > width of mouth; a small spiracle behind eye; mouth underneath, protrusible, with 4 conspicuous barbells before it, those without fringes, barbells long and slender; 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 23-30; tail base short, laterally 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 on body oval, those on top of back crowded, those on tail base behind dorsal and anal fins are paired.

Color light to dark brown, black to bluey black.

Reaches 403 cm, and ~270 kg.

Rivers and brackish and inshore marine habitats.

Depth range: 0-43 m.

Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.