The Huso huso, a beluga sturgeon, is used to produce the roe (or eggs) that are used to make beluga caviar. The fish live primarily in the Caspian Sea, which is shared by Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan. It is the largest saltwater lake in the world. On rare occasions, it can also be seen in the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea basin. Beluga caviar is the priciest variety of caviar, with market prices at the turn of the millennium reaching from $7,000 to $10,000 per kilogram ($3,200 to $4,500 per pound).
Getting: It can take a beluga sturgeon up to 20 years to reach maturity. The maximum weight of a caviar fish is 900 kilograms (2,000 lb). The common roe's eggs are the biggest; they can be any shade from dark gray (nearly black) to light gray, with the milder hues originating from older fish and being the most sought-after.
The most costly caviar is called "Almas," or beluga-albino caviar. Almas is a golden caviar created from the eggs of a very rare female albino sturgeon that lives in the southern Caspian Sea near Iran, where pollution levels seem to be lower. This sturgeon is between the ages of 60 and 100. There are extremely few albinos left in the wild since the lack of melanin is a hereditary abnormality that only affects a small portion of the population. This nearly white "black gold" caviar sells for £20,000 per day (USD 25,500) per kilogram (2 lb 3 oz).
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