A Comparison of Atlantic Sea Sturgeon with a New Subspecies from the Gulf of Mexico (Acipenser oxyrhynchus de sotoi)

Abstract

The sea sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrhynchus Mitchill, occurs in the western north Atlantic Ocean from Canadian waters south to the Gulf of Mexico. Specimens taken from eastern Florida to Quebec are assigned to the typical subspecies oxyrhynchus, while 2 specimens from off Mississippi are here described as the new subspecies de sotoi. The latter differs in having a longer head, longer pectoral fins, strongly developed scutes of distinctive shape and an unusually long spleen.