An Atlantic sturgeon swims past a viewing window in a tank at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, Md., on Aug. 3, 2017. The largest Atlantic sturgeon ever caught was 14 feet long and weighed 811 pounds. Historically overfished and susceptible to poor water quality, the species was declared endangered in 2012 and Horn Point is part of an effort to establish a broodstock population to rebuild its numbers. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)
Sturgeons have four sensory barbels on the underside of the snout. These allow them to "taste" for prey as they feed along the bottom. (Illustration courtesy New York State Department of Environmental Conservation)
Atlantic sturgeons have five rows of bony plates (called scutes) covering the head and body: one along the back, one on either side, and two along the belly. (Photo courtesy Virginia State Parks)
The Atlantic sturgeon is a bony, ancient-looking fish that visits the Chesapeake Bay in spring to spawn in Virginia’s James and York rivers. It was once found throughout the Bay and its freshwater rivers, but is now very rare.
Appearance
The Atlantic sturgeon has a brown, tan or bluish-black body and a whitish belly. It has no scales, but five rows of bony plates, called scutes, cover its head and body: one along the back, one on either side and two along the belly. It grows slowly, eventually reaching 5 to 6 feet in length. Males weigh up to 90 pounds and females weigh up to 160 pounds. Its long, hard snout has an upturned tip, with four sensory barbels on the underside of its snout. Its mouth is soft and toothless.
Feeding
These fish prey upon benthic creatures including clams and other mollusks, crustaceans, worms and insects. As bottom-feeders, they use their snout to root through the mud and find their prey, then suck it into their mouth like a vacuum.
Predators
Because of the bony plates covering its body, the Atlantic sturgeon has few natural predators. Human activities such as pollution, historic overfishing and damming of rivers threaten sturgeon.
Reproduction and Life Cycle
Sturgeon are anadromous, meaning they live in the ocean and spawn in freshwater rivers. Spawning occurs from April to June in the freshwater river they were born in, with sturgeon typically only returning to spawn every 3 to 5 years. Females can lay up to 2 million eggs, which are large and black and stick to the bottom of the river. After laying their eggs, females leave their spawning areas, while males remain there until autumn. Once hatched, juveniles stay in their natal river for as long as six years before moving into the Bay’s open waters and eventually the ocean. Males do not reach sexual maturity until they are at least 10 years old, and females take nearly 20 years to mature. Atlantic sturgeon can live for more than 60 years.
Did You Know?
- Sturgeons are prehistoric fish that have existed for more than 120 million years. They were around during the Cretaceous period, when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
- Part of the Atlantic sturgeon’s scientific name, oxyrhynchus, means “sharp snout.”
- Sturgeons are the largest fish native to the Chesapeake Bay.
- The largest Atlantic sturgeon ever recorded was caught in Canada. It measured 14 feet long and weighed 811 pounds.
- Sturgeons were abundant when English settlers arrived in the Bay region in the 1600s. They were a reliable source of food for the settlers most of the year.
- Sturgeons supported an important fishing industry from colonial times to the early 20th century. In particular, caviar from sturgeon eggs was considered a delicacy in Europe.
- Sturgeons are very sensitive to low oxygen, pollution and other poor water conditions. This, combined with their slow rate of maturity, damming of their spawning rivers and historic commercial fishing pressure, has caused the species to become very rare.
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officially declared the Atlantic sturgeon an endangered species in 2012. It is illegal to fish for, catch or harvest Atlantic sturgeon or their eggs.
Sources and Additional Information
- Fishes of Chesapeake Bay by Edward O. Murdy, Ray S. Birdsong and John A. Musick
- Life in the Chesapeake Bay by Alice Jane Lippson and Robert L. Lippson
- Maryland Fish Facts: Atlantic Sturgeon – Maryland Department of Natural Resources
- Atlantic Sturgeon – U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Chesapeake Bay Field Office
Quick Facts
Species
Native
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Habitat
Lives at the bottom of freshwater rivers during its time in the Chesapeake Bay region. Spends most of its life in the ocean and tends to travel alone, rather than in schools.
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Range
Travel through the Bay in April to May on their way to freshwater spawning areas in the James and York rivers, and again in autumn when they leave the Bay for coastal ocean waters. All of the Bay’s large rivers likely once had spawning populations of Atlantic sturgeon.
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Diet
Bottom-feeder; feeds on benthic creatures including mollusks, crustaceans, worms and insects
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Lifespan
More than 60 years
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Status
Endangered