Atlantic Sturgeon

Acipenser oxyrhinchus

In the right conditions, sturgeons can live to be as old as most people, if not older: One was estimated to be 154 years old. Sturgeons are bony fishes with mostly cartilaginous skeletons and sharklike fins. Large and elongate, they have five rows of bony, pointed plates, called scutes, along the body. The Atlantic Sturgeon swims along the ocean bottom and feels for its food with four long barbels on its cone-shaped snout. Many aquariums have sturgeons on display.

Look For : A large sturgeon with a wide mouth located on the underside of its head. Olive or gray above, lighter below.

Length : 6'.

Habitat : Ocean. Spawns in fresh-water.

Range : Atlantic coast from Labrador to eastern Florida; northern Gulf of Mexico.