The Alabama sturgeon is a freshwater fish that was historically widespread in the Mobile River basin of Alabama and Mississippi. This fish is elongate and slender, growing to about 30 inches in length, and is a golden-yellow color. A mature Alabama sturgeon weights 2 to 3 pounds. The head is broad, and flattened shovel-like at the snout.
Bony plates cover the head, back, and sides.
The body narrows abruptly to the rear to form a narrow stalk between the body and tail. The upper lobe of the tail fin is elongated and ends in a long filament. The Alabama sturgeon was once so abundant that it was caught and sold commercially. It has now become one of the rarest fish in North America. The Alabama sturgeon was described in a peer reviewed journal in 1990.