 The pectoral fins are positioned low, while the pelvic fins are along with the abdominal position.Prominent features of the shortnose sturgeon are the scutes, protractile tube-like mouth, and chemosensory barbels.Sturgeon tend to be long-lived, slow-maturing, and spawn infrequently, which have served the species well through evolutionary time but poorly to anthropogenic impacts like overharvesting, habitat loss, and degradation.