At first it might be hard to understand why sturgeons are compared to sharks. But once you see certain types of sturgeon it makes sense why people often compare the two types of animals. The biggest reason that the average person compares the two is because of their size. There are also some other physical characteristics of sturgeon that reminds most people of sharks.

White Sturgeon are found in North America and the biggest ones recorded reached 20 ft. in length and 1,800 pounds in weight. When a fish can reach that size it will remind people of sharks just based on size alone. Both creates are huge and can be a scary sight if you have never seen them before. Sturgeon also have a slender and long body, long mouth, and long head. These are all characteristics that would remind non-fish experts of a shark.

Sturgeons also do not have any scales but rather have protective plates that serve as armor. Most people do not believe that sharks have scales because their skin is so smooth. Technically sharks probably do have scales but they are so small they cannot be seen. Many marine biologists will actually call shark scales dermal denticles, which translates to tiny skin teeth. Basically both animals do not have scales or the appearance of scales. This is a major similarity between the two in appearance.

The internal bone structure of both sharks and sturgeon are very similar as well. Both animals have a lot of cartilage that makes up their internal structure. This is a unique feature that the two of these animals share. While sturgeon are classified as bony fish and not in the same family or group as sharks, there close appearance and similar body features make them very easy to compare together.

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