Endangered Florida
Fish

Gulf Sturgeon
Photo credit: USFWS
Sturgeon
Gulf Sturgeon
Acipenser oxyrinchus
desotoi
Please see this Wordpress Blog posting
for an important update about this fish:
A Sturgeon Warning
To begin: what is a Fish?
A fish is an aquatic
vertebrate (has a backbone)
that is cold blooded, has
fins, breathes through gills
and may be covered with
scales.
The primeval Gulf Sturgeon, whose ancestral
beginnings are older than Dinosaurs,
may date back as much as 200 million years,
or about the same time as Sharks.

Gulf Sturgeon
Photo credit: Gabby Saluta USFWS
One looking at this remarkable fish would be
reminded of the Alligator
Snapping Turtle
which also has a primordial appearance.
The Sturgeon body is covered with bony plates,
instead of the usual scales of modern fish
species,
just one of
several physical features
that sets this fish apart from others.

Gulf Sturgeon
Photo credit: Noel Burkhead
Weighing up to 200 pounds and reaching as much
as eight feet in length, the Gulf Sturgeon
lives up to 25-30 years.
Sturgeon are bottom dwellers whose diet
consists mainly of insects and mollusks.
It was listed as a Threatened Species in
1991
and has been off the take shelf for many
years.
This Sturgeon is anadromous, which means that it
lives in two worlds, freshwater and seawater and
like the Salmon, it goes home to spawn.
Dams blocking the Sturgeon's access to spawning
areas have been a key factor in their decline.
When it leaves the Gulf waters and returns home to
spawn,
home for the Gulf Sturgeon is the beautiful
and boat
popular Suwannee River Area in the Florida
Panhandle.

Gulf Sturgeon jumping on the Suwannee
Photo credit: Tim Ross
Each summer, they can be seen on the River jumping
as much as six feet in the air and
occasionally,
some boaters have been injured in these displays.

Photo credit: Donald Monroe @ SRWMD
Sign courtesy: FFWCC
A firm reason for this jumping display is a
continued
debate among the scientists who study them.
Places to learn more:
Earth Justice
Critical Habitat Proposed
Environment News Service
Endangered Sturgeon Returning to Suwannee River
FFWS
Facts about Gulf Sturgeon
Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
A Comparison of Three Sturgeon Species
Live Science
Save this Ugly Fish
National Geographic
Attacks Over for Now
Giant Jumping Sturgeon
Jumping Sturgeon
Science Daily
Endangered Billfish
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Decline in Florida's Reef Fish
UFNHM
Gulf Sturgeon
USFWS
Sturgeon
USGS
Sturgeon
Walking with the Alligators

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Last edited June 4, 2022
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