Shortnose Sturgeon Identification Guide

Key identification features

• Small sturgeon, rarely exceeding 4 feet
• Short, blunt, rounded snout
• Wide mouth relative to head width, wider than in most other sturgeons
• Dark brown to olive or black back with a pale belly
• Four barbels set in a row ahead of the mouth
• Five rows of bony scutes, though smaller and less prominent than in larger sturgeons

Common look-alikes

• Atlantic sturgeon: grows much larger with a longer, more pointed snout and a narrower mouth than the Shortnose Sturgeon.
• Lake Sturgeon: ranges only overlap conceptually, since Lake Sturgeon stay in freshwater Great Lakes systems, while Shortnose Sturgeon are found in Atlantic coastal rivers and rarely stray far to sea.
• Juvenile Atlantic Sturgeon: can be mistaken for adult Shortnose Sturgeon at a glance, but juvenile Atlantic Sturgeon retain a proportionally longer, sharper snout even at small sizes.

Where you'll see one

Shortnose Sturgeon live in Atlantic coast rivers and estuaries from the St. John River in Canada south to the St. Johns River in Florida. Unlike the more strongly anadromous Atlantic Sturgeon, Shortnose Sturgeon tend to stay within rivers and their estuaries rather than ranging widely into open ocean waters.