Sevruga Identification Guide

Key identification features

• Long, slender, distinctly upturned snout that is thin and blade-like, longer than in most other sturgeons
• Five rows of bony scutes running along the body: one dorsal, two lateral, and two ventral rows
• Lateral scutes have a raised, star-like shape, giving the species its scientific name "stellatus"
• Smooth (unfringed) barbels set in a row well forward of the small, protrusible, underslung mouth
• Slate-gray to blackish-brown back fading to a pale, whitish belly
• Slender caudal peduncle and a heterocercal (upper-lobe-longer) tail; smaller overall size than most sturgeons, typically under 1.5 m

Common look-alikes

• Russian sturgeon has a much shorter, blunter, more rounded snout compared to Sevruga's long thin one.
• Beluga sturgeon is far larger with a hugely wide, gaping mouth rather than Sevruga's small ventral mouth.
• Sterlet has fringed, feathery barbels, while Sevruga's barbels are smooth-edged.

Where you'll see one

Sevruga is native to the Caspian and Black Sea basins, spending most of its life in open marine and brackish waters before migrating up large rivers such as the Volga, Ural, and Don to spawn over gravel or rocky river bottoms.