Acipenser gueldenstaedti Brandt, 1833

Description: snout short, less than 60% of head, broad and rounded at tip, lip not continuous, interrupted at centre; barbels not fringed, nearer to tip of snout than to mouth and not touching it. Gillrakers 16-31 (36). Dorsal finrays 27-48; anal finrays 16-35. Five rows of scutes, dorsal 7-19, lateral 24-44 on each side, ventral 6-13 on each side, with less of smaller stellate bony plates between the dorsal and ventral rows.

Color: back olivaceous grey, flanks lighter, belly white.

Size: to 211 cm, usually 110-140 cm.

Habitat: on bottom, mainly near shore, over sand and mud usually solitary, but swarms when hibernating or during spawning migrations; less abundent than Acipenser stellatus.

Food: molluscs, crustacean, small fishes (anchovies, sprats, gobies).

Reproduction: enters rivers from April to June (a few in autumn), spawning from May to June; natural spawning not extensive, maintained chiefly by artificial propagation.