Sturgeon

Sturgeon is the common name for 27 species of fish in the family Acipenseridae.

Sturgeon
Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Acipenseriformes
Family:	Acipenseridae
Subfamilies
Acipenserinae Scaphirhynchinae

Evolution

Sturgeons have been referred to as "living fossils" or "primitive fish" because their features have not changed very much since their earliest fossil record.

Habitat

Sturgeon range from subtropical to subarctic waters in North America and Eurasia. In North America, they range along the Atlantic coast from the Gulf of Mexico to Newfoundland. They used to be found throughout the Mississippi River, the Great Lakes and the Hudson River.

Throughout this extensive range, almost all species are highly threatened or vulnerable to extinction due to a combination of habitat destruction, overfishing, and pollution.

In the last century, this large fish was often regarded as a nuisance because it often became entangled in and caused commercial fishing nets to become ripped. Only much later did the sturgeon become prized for its meat, eggs (caviar) and oil. Gelatin from the inner lining of its air bladder was used to make isinglass--a substance used as a clarifying agent in jellies, glues and in the isinglass windows of carriages and early cars. Nowadays, the lake sturgeon's dark form can be sometimes be discerned in reedy shallows or near river mouths.

Sturgeon Media

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  Yanosteus longidorsalis, a member of the extinct acipenseriform family Peipiaosteidae from the Early Cretaceous (125–120 Mya) Yixian Formation in Liaoning, China

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  Coelacanthflipped

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  Salamandra salamandra (white background)

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  Planche N° 105 du livre "Le règne animal distribué d'après son organisation" par Georges Cuvier (Tome 8), seconde édition de 1828, représentant : Polypterus senegalus

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  Atlantic Sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrhynchus. Scans of artwork commissioned by the Fish and Wildlife Service in the 1970's. Original art is kept at NCTC museum.

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  Paddlefish (white background)

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  Alligator gar fish (white background)

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  Amia calva (white background)

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  Common carp (white background)

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  Atlantic Sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrhynchus. Scans of artwork commissioned by the Fish and Wildlife Service in the 1970's. Original art is kept at NCTC museum.

• Pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) showing siphoning feeding behaviour

• Beluga sturgeon in an aquarium.