Sturgeon is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. Their evolution dates back to the Triassic some 245 to 208 million years ago. The family is grouped into four genera: Acipenser, Huso, Scaphirhynchus and Pseudoscaphirhynchus. Four species may now be extinct. Two closely related species, Polyodon spathula (paddlefish) and Psephurus gladius (Chinese paddlefish, possibly extinct) are of the same order, Acipenseriformes, but are in the family Polyodontidae and are not considered to be "true" sturgeons. Both sturgeons and paddlefish have been referred to as "primitive fishes" because their morphological characteristics have remained relatively unchanged since the earliest fossil record. Sturgeons are native to subtropical, temperate and sub-Arctic rivers, lakes and coastlines of Eurasia and North America.
Sturgeons are long-lived, late-maturing fishes with distinctive characteristics, such as a heterocercal caudal fin similar to that of sharks, and an elongated spindle-like body that is smooth-skinned, scaleless and armored with 5 lateral rows of bony plates called scutes. Several species can grow quite large, typically ranging 7–12 feet (2-3½ m) in length. The largest sturgeon on record was a Beluga female captured in the Volga estuary in 1827, weighing 1,571 kg (3,463 lb) and 7.2 m (24 ft) long. Most sturgeons are anadromous bottom-feeders which migrate upstream to spawn but spend most of their lives feeding in river deltas and estuaries. Some species inhabit freshwater environments exclusively while others primarily inhabit marine environments near coastal areas, and are known to venture into open ocean.
Sturgeon is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Sturgeon is a former provincial electoral district that existed from 1905 to 1940 in Alberta, Canada.
Row with the drone
Change coming slow
Nothing left to move me
Cuz of what I found
All of life's contusions
Might just bring me down, bring me down
My will has come undone
Ticking of the clock goes on
Another voice without a word
Waiting for tomorrow
For a change to be designed
Inner-Brain technology
Cannot be assigned
All I've left is broken
Heard it all before
All I've got surrounded
Tow it down the hall, down the hall
Your words are left unsung
Holding off the sharpened tongue
Another voice without a word
Far away in a soul turned to gray
Take a stroll through your mental decay
Cannot stay any longer this way
Takes its toll till they cart you away
Listen to drone
Changes coming slow
Nothing left to move me
Cuz of what I know, what I know
When there's nothing left to fear
I believe that I will hear