Species: Scaphirhynchus albus, Pallid Sturgeon

Scaphirhynchus albus (Forbes & Richardson, 1905)

Pallid Sturgeon

Body heavy, elongate, nearly cylindrical; head ends in a hard, elongate, bluntly pointed snout; snout depressed, shovel-like; no spiracle behind eye; mouth underneath, protrusible, with 4 conspicuous barbells before it, those with fringes, in a curved row; gill rakers fan shaped; one dorsal fin, well back near tail base; pectorals low, pelvics at rear under abdomen; fins without spines; tail base long and flattened, completely covered with bony plates; tail fin slightly concave, upper lobe (with a fleshy extension of the tail base) a little longer than lower; body with five rows of bony plates, one row along midback, one along midside, another along lower side.

Color light to dark brown, black to bluey black.

Reaches 168 cm, at least 30.8 kg.

Lives in rivers, rarely enters salt water.

Depth range: 1-30 m.

The Mississippi and Missouri rivers.