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A 1000-kg, 4.17-m-long beluga fish from the Volga River (National Museum of Tatarstan, Kazan, Russia) Among all extant bony fishes, the beluga sturgeon rivals the ocean sunfish (Mola sp.) as the most massive fish and is the second-longest bony fish after the giant oarfish (Regalecus glesne). It is the largest freshwater fish in the world.
The beluga sturgeon can take up to 20 years to reach maturity. The fish harvested for caviar are often nearly 900 kg (2,000 lb). The eggs themselves are the largest of the commonly used roes, and range in color from dark gray (almost black) to light gray, with the lighter colors coming from older fish, and being the most valued.
The largest sturgeon on record was a beluga female captured in the Volga Delta in 1827, measuring 7.2 m (23 ft 7 in) long and weighing 1,571 kg (3,463 lb). Most sturgeons are anadromous bottom-feeders , migrating upstream to spawn but spending most of their lives feeding in river deltas and estuaries .
Other farmers use a process called "stripping", which extracts the caviar from the fish via a small incision made along the urogenital muscle when the fish is deemed to be ready to be processed. An ultrasound is used to determine the correct timing. [51] [52] Removing the caviar by massage may yield higher quality and a more sustainable source ...
Monodontids have a wide-ranging carnivorous diet, feeding on fish, molluscs, and small crustaceans. They have reduced teeth, with the beluga having numerous simple teeth, and the narwhal having only two teeth, one of which forms the tusks in males. Gestation lasts 14–15 months in both species, and almost always results in a single calf.
Beluga whales in the Eastern Bering Sea feed on a variety of fish species including saffron cod, rainbow smelt, walleye pollock, Pacific salmon, Pacific herring and several species of flounder and sculpin. The primary invertebrate consumed is shrimp.
The kaluga sturgeon is a massive fish, also known as the "river beluga". It has a triangular head with several bony plates. Its body is an elongated fusiform body with five rows of bony scutes: dorsal with 10–16 beetles (the first is largest), two laterals (32–46 scutes), and two ventral (8–12 scutes) between rows of small bony scutes ...
Ossetra (also Osetra, Oscietra, Osetrova, or Asetra) caviar is one of the most prized and expensive types of caviar [1] (eclipsed in price only by Beluga caviar). It is obtained from the Ossetra sturgeon, which weighs 50-400 pounds and can live up to 50 years. Ossetra caviar varies in color from deep brown to gold.