How long have sturgeon been on earth

Also known as the rock sturgeon, the lake sturgeon is one of 27 species of sturgeon, a family of bony fish that found around the world that first appears in the fossil record more than million years ago. Lake sturgeons can grow huge. In , a female sturgeon caught on Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin measured more than seven feet three inches long and weighed pounds. These freshwater behemoths are also extremely long-lived.

While males may live some 55 years, females can reach more than Even then, they only spawn every four years on average. Females can lay anywhere from two to three million eggs per season. Despite the name, lake sturgeons are also found in rivers and once roamed watersheds from the Mississippi River in the west to Hudson Bay in the east. About two centuries ago, lake sturgeons were so abundant and large they made up an estimated 90 percent of the biomass in the Great Lakes.

Intense fishing going back to the early s, however, took a heavy toll on lake sturgeon numbers. The fish were first killed as a nuisance, because they damaged fishing gear.

Later, they were targeted for their meat and eggs, which when salt-cured become caviar. The 20th century saw drastic drops in sturgeon catches and the closure of fisheries, as the fish only remained in the Great Lakes, and only in small numbers.

Combined with their extremely large size, the look of the beluga sturgeon can be quite intimidating, but this species is harmless and actively avoids people. The beluga sturgeon is one of the only species of sturgeons that actively eats other fishes and is one of the largest predatory fishes on Earth. Adult beluga sturgeon have few natural predators, but fishing pressure by people has been very high.

The beluga sturgeon is, unfortunately, cursed with producing some of the most desirable caviar in the world. Caviar is the table name for fish eggs, and beluga sturgeon produce millions of eggs. Search form. Search Website.

Learn About Sturgeon. Fun Facts about Sturgeon How old can a sturgeon get? More than years old. How big can a sturgeon get? As big as 20 feet long. Return to Top. I want to Public Works Menu. Recycling Right Made Easy! Household Hazardous Waste - What do I do with it? 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. 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. 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. Males do not reach sexual maturity until they are at least 10 years old, and females take nearly 20 years to mature.