Physical Description
The sturgeons of the family Acipenseridae have bony scutes along the sides and back and four barbels on the underside of the rostrum. A total of 25 extant species of sturgeon are recognized, including 17 within the genus Acipenser. Sturgeon are distributed around the northern part of the Northern Hemisphere (holarctic distribution) and have marine, freshwater, and anadromous members. Sturgeons, including the shovelnose, are highly regarded for their flesh and their roe, from which premium grades of caviar are made (Barton 2007).
The scientific name Scaphirhynchus, Greek, means "spade snout," and platorynchus, Greek, means "broad snout." The shovelnose sturgeon is characterized by a long slender filament on the upper lobe of the caudal fin. They have a flattened rostrum (modified snout) that is also shovel shaped. There are four fringed barbels on the ventral side of the rostrum that can be found in a straight line, which is equidistant from the mouth opening to the tip of the snout, unlike pallid sturgeon. The belly of the shovelnose sturgeon is covered with scale-like plates, which is another distinguishing factor from pallid sturgeon who have primarily scaleless bellies. Coloration of the shovelnose sturgeon ranges from a light-brown to buff with a white belly (Pflieger 1997).
Read more about this topic: Shovelnose Sturgeon
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