I was out walking my dog not two hours ago in Scotts Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada (Giving location so possible fish habitat area is known) and on the beach my boyfriend, his friend and I came across the oddest looking fish ever and I was wondering what species of fish this could possibly be. I've lived in this provence my whole life ( I am 22 years old) and I fish all the time but I have Never Ever come across something like this. It was around two feet long give or take an inch. It was tannish with white bony protrusions coming out of its back in lines from head to tail. V shaped tail. One dorsil fin ( or what ever you call it as I am not fish knowledgeable... nor do I know if knowledgeable is a word or not but it sounds like one to me :D) close to the tail instead of towards the head or in the middle. Big sized gill slits (it was almost half dried when I found it but I had been there 2 days before and the tide comes past the point where we found it) Hard bony head triangular in shape long bony nose.. mouth UNDER the fish and doesn't look like any fish mouth I've ever seen. Maybe a Ray's mouth sortof. Well that's the best description I can give so thank goodness for Camera Phones. :D I am also attaching Four pictures I took and e-mailed to myself. They had to be changed to jpeg files to be edited and I had to darken them a bit because my camera takes very bright pictures but that is the only way they are edited.

That might be a young Alligator Gar from the shape of the jaw. Those things get 5-6 feet, though. I'm not sure, but it's a place to start looking

Awwww we missed the target on that one... an alligator gar is fresh water. This is in Salt water. Which I think I forgot to mention silly me... The alligator gar usually inhabits places like bayous etc.. And are found in the usa in warmer waters... I'm in atlantic Canada Also the alligator gar`s mouth is completely different. Hence the alligator in its name... this fish had a mouth like something out of the ray family (located at the bottom of the mouth, on the underside. Small.. ) Every person I have shown the picture to today (total of three people but hey it's a start) NONE of them have ever seen anything like this.. two were in their late 20`s and one was in her fiftys

Why I qualified it. Other thoughts were Dogfish or one of the Catfish family.

Sturgeon of some kind I suspect.

After googling sturgeons I found a picture of a baby one that looks identicle to it. The only thing is the dangly things abouve the mouth are not there but that could be because it was partially dried thanks everyone I think I've found it

One for flyakker

Good Job!

Yes. Thank you very much... I'm a curious gyal so if I find another weird thing I'll be sure to post again in the proper forum area :D. Saw a brown backed, orange bellied small snake the other day. But it resembled a tree snake so I'm guessing that's what it was lol... wonderfully behaved though when I picked it up, showed the hubby and released it

I grew up in your area Been to that beach a million times have never ever seen a sturgeon in Nova Scotia let alone in salt water. I would have to say someone threw it away there. I am huge into the fishing thing an am almost certain there is none in Nova Scotia.

Sir Matt.. I have a degree in forestry and wildlife.. with a minor in aquaculture. Though the only thing they didn't go into much information about was the sturgeon.. I did find out after much researching that Yes indeed there are sturgeons around here... there are Atlantic, Lake, White and shovelnose sturgeons(these are the only kinds of sturgeons in the world.) The atlantic sturgeon is the one found in our waters. Their range is The Atlantic Coast from George River and Ungava Bay in QC, Central Flordia, Gulf Coast from FL to LA and Possibly in Texas. Though upon looking at Pictures and descriptions of Atlantic Sturgeons and White Sturgeons it actually Looked more like a White then an Atlantic... Color, Bony protection plates and all look like it's a white sturgeon.. I am pretty sure that someone did not just Place this fish on the beach as there is no way to get a white sturgeon in this area at all. You don't see sturgeons often in Nova Scotia Because of the fact that They usually don't appear so close to the coast. . though I did find out they will live in fresh water lakes, costal waters and tidal fresh waters. I am a huge fisher but I usually only go for stripers, trout, and bass



*note... I just completed my minor in aquaculture after this post... we had not gotten to sturgeons when I posted this in class*

Binx44 Cool I didn't know that there were anything like that around here. Even in the rare veriety. Many of my family are fishermen from the fundy / valley area for well over 60 plus years and they have never seen one.

Ben I just ran over to my grandfarther's place and showed him a pic he actually grew up in Scott's Bay and fished from there. He told me they used to catch them all the time up until the 1960's up to 11 feet long or so.

Sir Matt.. You may call me B if B is easier then Binx LOL. Everyone else does I don't mind.
Everyone I have spoken to in my area ( I live in the valley. But I think you can already tell that LOL) said they have never seen one either. That is why it took so long to identify it. I didn't think there were any around here any more either. And they are protected in some states in the US. Matt. It was nice of you to go to your grandfather and show him a picture of it. I think I'll have to research them some more. Maybe changing water temp or some other reason is why their numbers have declined so much. I could see them finding them around 11 feet long or so because By the description White and Atlantic Sturgeon range around 12' 6" to 14' Long. The one I found was around 2 feet long. Figuring the age to be between 2 and 4 years of age. They do not reach sexual maturity until age five or six so sadly this one will not be able to produce any offspring thus lowering the chances for them even more then it already is (even though the one fish would only contribute only a minute percentage of offspring)

Sturgeon without a doubt. I've seen them caught in nets in scotts bay and watched them jump ( 6ft long and bigger) clear out of the water. Going to try to catch one this year with rod and reel.

Never seen one of those in my neck of Nova Scotia Binx! But wow, that is one cool looking fish. When my dad comes over tonight I'll get him to have a look at it and give his guess. I've seen some pretty weird looking things washed in with the tide on this side of the Fundy as well. Up towards Bass River and Five Houses.

Oops sorry! Just saw this was an old thread. Never the less, cool fish!

I do a lot of fishing along the Minas Basin and have ssen many sturgeon. On one tide at a fishing weir we counted 30 with 2 of them over 6 feet in length. There are shovelnose for sure, the White I can not speak of as I have not seen any. They are a really interesting fish and amazing watch.