Fish facts #12 - Jeremy Wade feat. The White Sturgeon [Video]

This amazing almost prehistoric-like looking fish grows huge (6 meters, 800 kg). It's still just large calm giant which lives in fresh water rivers and salty waters close to the marine shores. It's not predator but opportunist species of fish so it feeds on what the environment offers to him (dead fish, crustaceans, and mollusks). This Giant is popular fishing target and it's respected as a slow but strong fighter.

Some members of sturgeon family are critically endangered in all over the world because of it's eggs (caviar) which are collected from the wild fishes and never survive the process. The worst action of collecting caviar was happening (and probably it's still continued) in Russia which provides to extinction of some sturgeon species in natural environment. Nowadays there are farms of sturgeons which are specialized in caviar production. There are many programs of restitution sturgeons which support nature to "recover" for some of the species of sturgeons. It's great family of beautiful fishes so I hope that we will be able to protect and support them enough to let them survive and come back to normal.

Before you will see the video a short information about this fish.

The White Sturgeon (Latin: Acipenser transmontanus, Richardson, 1836)

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)

Order: Acipenseriformes (Sturgeons and paddlefishes)

Family: Acipenseridae (Sturgeons)

Genus: Acipenser

Species: A. transmontanus

Distribution

Eastern Pacific: Alaska Bay to Monterey, California, USA. Landlocked in Columbia River drainage, Montana, and perhaps Lake Shasta in California, USA. Translocated to lower Colorado River, Arizona in USA. Reported from northern Baja California, Mexico. Considered vulnerable in Canada. International trade restricted.

Size / Weight

Max length : 610 cm;

common length : 210 cm;

max. published weight: 816.0 kg;

max. reported age: 104 years;

Environment

Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; anadromous;

depth range 1 - 120 m;

Cold water to subtropical waters.

58°N - 24°N, 163°W - 107°W;

Short description

Distinguished by the 2 rows of 4 to 8 bony plates on a midventral line between the anus and anal fin, and about 45 rays in the dorsal fin. Gray or brownish above, paler below; fins gray. Barbels situated closer to snout tip than to mouth; no obvious scutes behind dorsal and anal fins.

Biology

Spends most of its time in the sea, usually close to shore. Enters estuaries of large rivers and moves far inland to spawn. Individuals larger than 48.3 cm feed mainly on fishes; smaller ones feed mainly on chironomids, but also takes small crustaceans, other insects and mollusks. Feeding ceases just before spawning. Excellent food fish that is sold fresh, smoked or frozen. Eggs marketed as caviar. In the past, the airbladder was made into isinglass.

Supporting source: http://www.fishbase.org

Video

STEEManians I want to especially thank for supporting:

@gregbit @margaretwise @glitterfart @hilarski @anahilarski @thearcanebear @edekadam @mynameisbrian @jga @choogirl @linzy13 @cecirod1218 @bibek @codypanama @donofa @fishdad