Profile / Morphology ¹

Gulf sturgeon are very large bottom oriented anadromous fish. Their snout is elongated and bladelike with 4 barbels (sensory “whiskers”) in front of the mouth. The upper tail lobe is longer than the lower lobe, similar to most sharks. Their back and sides are light brown to dark brown in color, and they are pale underneath. Like most sturgeon, they are characterized by unique arrangements of armored plates along their sides and back, called scutes. The gulf sturgeon has 5 rows of scutes.
Gulf sturgeon are a subspecies of the Atlantic sturgeon. They differ from the Atlantic sturgeon in relative head length and pectoral fin length, shape of dorsal scutes (bony plates), plus spleen length and position.

Diet ²

Gulf sturgeon siphon their food, which includes tiny bottom-dwelling sea invertebrates, crustaceans, and marine worms. While in rivers, they do not feed because searching for food requires excessive amounts of energy needed for spawning.

Average lifespan in the wild ²

up to 42 years

Size / Weight ²

8 feet (adult female maximum) / 200 lb (maximum)

Habitat ²

Gulf sturgeon are often found in rivers that contain high levels of tannic acid that make the water appear darker in color. The best river habitat for gulf sturgeon is long, spring-fed free-flowing rivers with steep banks and a hard bottom. Average water temperature of 60 to 72°F (15.5 to 22°C) are also characteristic of rivers sturgeon inhabit (NMFS 2003). Sturgeon occupy the river bottom downstream of springs where they seek thermal refuge, or shelter during hot summer days. Movement from the Gulf and up-river movement generally occurs between February and April, while down-river movement occurs between September and November. Gulf sturgeon do not occur in the western Gulf, since that area has soft sediments which differs from the preferred hard substrates of the eastern Gulf. Gulf sturgeon are euryhaline, since they do not spend a large part of their life in estuaries, and migrate between the sea and freshwater.

Range ²

Reproductive / Life Span ²

Relatives ²

Found in the following Estuarine Reserves ²

Water quality factors needed for survival ²

Threats ²

Conservation notes ²

Sources and Credits

1. Adapted by GTMResearchReserve from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acipenser_oxyrinchus_desotoi
2. (c) GTMResearchReserve, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• FishBase
• FishSource
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• VertNet
• World Register of Marine Species

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