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See the fishing tripsThe Pallid Sturgeon
prohibited all year
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The Pallid Sturgeon belongs to the Acipenseridae family. it measures between 70 and 150 cm long and 39 kg in adulthood. The Pallid Sturgeon takes 15 years to reach maturity, and can live for more than a century. it breeds from May to July. Considered as endangered, it cannot be caught.
Like the other Acipenseridae, it is considered as a "living fossil". The Pallid Sturgeon has a characteristic appearance that makes it to be qualified as "primitive" or "dinosaur". It has a pale color, especially in adults who fade with time, with a greyish back and sides. Its caudal fin is heterocercal, with an upper lobe more developed than the lower lobe. Like other sturgeons, the Pallid Sturgeon has no calcified scales or bones, unlike more recent fish species. It has a cartilaginous skeleton with five rows of thick patches that extend along its sides, belly, back and most of its head. These plates are covered by the skin and protect the animal. This cartilage also extends to the back of the fish’s body, between the dorsal fin and the tail. The mouth starts well set back from the tip of the head. Because it has no teeth, it uses this stretchy mouth to suck small fish, shellfish and other foods from the bottom of the river. Like all sturgeons, it has four barbells. We think they have a sensory role in detecting food.
The Pallid Sturgeon lifestyle
They feed on small insects, shellfish, small fish and mollusks.
As is the case for various species with long life expectancy, Pallid sturgeons reach maturity relatively late. Thus, males reach sexual maturity between 5 and 7 years of age, while females are only able to reproduce from the age of 15 years. A study of 9 females indicated that their eggs begin to develop between 9 and 12 years of age but it takes 15 years for them to reach full maturity. A female does not reproduce every year, and there is an average interval of 3 years between each egg laying, with some studies even suggesting an interval of 10 years. Egg laying usually takes place between May and July. It breeds in rocky areas and the female lays about 170,000 eggs. After 5 to 8 days, the eggs hatch.
The Pallid Sturgeon habitat
The Pallid Sturgeon prefers rivers with moderate to slow flow, and most of the individuals caught come from streams and rivers with an average velocity ranging from 0.10 to 0.88 m/s. It prefers water with a certain turbidity and depths of 0.91 to 7.6 m. The species is most commonly found in streams with a sandy bottom, but it can also be found on a rockier bottom.
The historical range of the Pallid Sturgeon includes the entire Missouri and Mississippi, and therefore extends to the states of Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Tennessee.
The Pallid Sturgeon angling
It is an endangered species that can be caught.
