Genus: Acipenser, Greater Sturgeon, Sturgeons

ACIPENSER

STURGEONS

Body heavy, elongate, nearly cylindrical; head ends in a hard, elongate, bluntly pointed snout; snout conical; a small spiracle behind eye; mouth underneath, protrusible, with 4 conspicuous barbells before it, those without fringes; gill rakers elongate and pointed; one dorsal fin, well back near tail base; tail base short, compressed, only partly covered with bony plates; tail fin deeply concave, upper lobe (with a fleshy extension of the tail base) much 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 genus of temperate northern hemisphere fishes found in N America, Europe and Asia, with 14 species; 2 N American species enter brackish and marine habitats in our area.