Size
The largest generally accepted record is of a female taken in 1827 in the Volga estuary at 1,571 kg (3,460 lb) and 7.2 m (24 ft). Several other records of aged sturgeon exceed 5 m (16 ft). These great sizes mark the beluga as the largest freshwater fish in the world, and as a rival in size to the ocean sunfish among all extant bony fishes. The giant belugas are much larger than the Mekong giant catfish or the arapaima. Nevertheless, some scientists still consider the Mekong giant catfish to be the largest true freshwater fish, owing to sturgeons' ability to survive in seawater and that it spends much of its life in brackish environments.
Beluga of such great sizes are always very old (continuing to grow throughout life) and have become increasingly rare in recent decades due to the heavy fishing of this species. Today, belugas that are caught are generally 142–328 cm (4.66–10.76 ft) long and weigh 19–264 kg (42–580 lb). The female beluga is typically 20% larger than the male.
Read more about this topic: Beluga (sturgeon)
Famous quotes containing the word size:
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“The obese is ... in a total delirium. For he is not only large, of a size opposed to normal morphology: he is larger than large. He no longer makes sense in some distinctive opposition, but in his excess, his redundancy.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)