📸 PhotoPhoto: Elekes Andor · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Beluga
Acipenser huso (Beluga · Beluga)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 A maximum length of 8 m is close to the combined length of two passenger cars (about 4.5 m each) (comparison).
- 💡 A maximum weight of 3.2 metric tons is a little over the weight of two passenger cars (about 1.5 metric tons each) (comparison).
- 💡 Its fishery relies almost entirely on the value of its caviar (roe), while the meat is also sold fresh, smoked, or frozen and eaten broiled, boiled, or fried (FishBase).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The beluga (Acipenser huso) is the largest sturgeon, spending its life at sea and migrating up large rivers to spawn. It has been reported to live up to 118 years.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
It is a massive fish reported up to a maximum total length of 8 m and a maximum weight of 3.2 metric tons. It reaches maturity at 200 cm or more.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
At sea it swims after prey, feeding on Black Sea whiting (cod family), anchovies, flatfishes, gobies, fry of bottom-living fishes, crustaceans, and mollusks. It spawns over stone or gravel bottoms in strong currents of large rivers.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List CR (2022) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/10269/135087846
- • IUCN Red List category CR — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — V9VZD
- • iucnredlist.org — 135087846
- • wikidata.org — Q106373169
- • fishbase.se — Acipenser-huso.html
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Robbie Cada · Public Domain Mark 1.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.