We frequently hear about bizarre animals discovered on shorelines after getting washed away. One such massive sea creature, with a pointed nose, has been noticed on the banks of a deserted seashore in Virginia, USA. The size of this creature is three feet and a sea dinosaur. It was noticed by a man in Virginia’s Assateague Island as the creature was lying motionless.
This “bizarre” marine creature is actually an Atlantic sturgeon, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (nomenclature- Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus). A sturgeon can grow to a maximum length of 14 feet and a maximum weight of 800 pounds.
This 37-inch fish actually belongs in the dinosaur family. It only contains rows of hard plates, known as scutes, instead of scales. As a bottom feeder, it will consume nearly everything, including dead fish, clams, and mussels. Four barbels, or whiskers, located under its chin are used to feel the ground for food. There are no teeth and the mouth is rigid and bony.
This is a little one; in other parts of the world, they can weigh over a thousand pounds, but researchers have found them in the rivers and tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay as small as 160 pounds.
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This species, which is practically extinct, was listed as an endangered species in 2012.
The Atlantic sturgeon, which dates back more than 120 million years to the time when dinosaurs inhabited the planet, is frequently referred to as a “prehistoric fish.” Given that they are anadromous fish, they are born in fresh water before migrating to the oceans.