Shorefishes of the Greater Caribbean online information system

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Family: ACIPENSERIDAE, Sturgeon, Sturgeons


All Families:   All Genera:   All Species:

snout long pointed, overhanging, 4 barbels underneath
body - 5 rows bony bucklers
C concave

FAMILY ACIPENSERIDAE

STURGEONS

Body heavy, elongate, nearly cylindrical; head ends in a hard, elongate, bluntly pointed snout; sometimes a small spiracle behind eye; mouth underneath, protrusible, with 4 conspicuous barbells before it; one dorsal fin, well back near tail base; tail fin upper lobe (with a fleshy extension of the tail base) longer than lower; 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.

A family of temperate northern hemisphere fishes found in N America, Europe and Asia, with 24 species in 4 genera; 3 N American species enter brackish and marine habitats in our area.

PREPARED BY D ROSS ROBERTSON, AFTER SCOTT (2002)