Something strange washed ashore on Folly Beach in South Carolina this past weekend. The beast had some wondering if it was some sort of new species.
A veterinarian from a South Carolina aquarium identified the fish as a sturgeon. The Atlantic sturgeon can grow to 15 feet in length and weigh over 800 pounds.
Tip: Cryptozoology Online: Daily News
The sturgeon is a freaky looking thing, for sure. This one may be missing its head. There ought to be a name for odd-looking things that wash up on the shore where people freak out before finally asking someone who might be zoologically inclined to weigh in on what it is. This type of thing happens often.[This one is going around again: San Diego Demonoid (opossum)
This fish (Acipenser oxyrinchus) is rare, critically endangered in some areas due to overfishing. But this species is not out of place, it is native to the Atlantic waters all up and down the east coast.
The sturgeon is a curious beast of interest to cryptid investigators because the spiny plates on its body, called scutes, look quite monster-ish. We aren’t used to seeing such a prehistoric-looking skin on a modern day fish. It is thought that many sea monster sightings are attributed to sturgeon because they are so weird looking, grow so large and can end up in fresh water areas.