12. Beluga

The beluga or European sturgeon, Huso huso, is the largest fish found in the Danube - there are reports of specimens exceeding 1500 kg of weight and 6m in length. This is also the largest freshwater fish. It inhabits the Aegean Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Azov Sea, the Black Sea, and the Adriatic Sea. An anadromous fish that spends most of its life at sea and enters rivers in spring for spawning. The main food of the beluga, as well as of all sturgeons, is crustaceans. For this reason, young specimens dwell around the mouths of the rivers, where crustaceans are smaller and with a thinner shell. The beluga is a predatory fish, and also feeds on popes, anchovies, sprats and others. Due to excessive fishing for meat and caviar this species, along with other sturgeon fish, is critically endangered from extinction.