Shortnose sturgeon were first listed as Endangered in 1967 under the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966, a predecessor to the Endangered Species Act of 1973.  Jurisdiction was later assumed by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).  

The Hudson River population has since made a remarkable recovery showing a 400% increase attributable to the protection they were afforded under the ESA.

See Boyd Kynard's interview at our Sturgeon Gallery. The trailer is titled, "Shortnose Sturgeon with Boyd Kynard"

Sturgeons do not have scales.  Their bodies are armored with several lengthwise rows of bony plates called scutes.

Sturgeons have a heterocercal tail, much like that of sharks.

DISTRIBUTION

Shortnose sturgeon are inherently anadromous, and inhabit estuaries and rivers along the Atlantic coast from the Saint John's River in New Brunswick to the Saint John River in Florida. There is also a partially landlocked population of shortnose above Holyoke Dam up to Turners Falls Dam in Massachusetts, and another population of shortnose in the estuary.

CHARACTERISTICS

Sturgeons have distinctive characteristics which vary slightly from species to species.

• Shortnose sturgeon have a short conical snout with four barbels that dangle just in front of their large siphon-like mouth. The barbels are believed to be sensory organs for locating food on the bottom of a sea, lake, or other body of water.
  
• Their skeleton is almost entirely cartilagenous.
  
• They have a heterocercal tail, much like that of sharks. 
• They do not have scales, rather their bodies are covered with five lengthwise rows of bony plates called scutes.  Scutes have been found at archaelogical sites, and are thought to have been used by ancient peoples and Native Americans for tools and ornamentation.
• At maturity, shortnose sturgeon average about 3-1/2 ft. in length and weigh about 14 pounds, but they have been known to reach 4.7 ft. and weigh as much as 50.7 lbs.
  

• Shortnose sturgeon are long-lived, and sexually late maturing.  The oldest known female was 67 yrs. of age, and the oldest male was 32 yrs. of age.
  

• Sturgeon do not spawn every year.  Males typically spawn every other year while females spawn every third year.
  
• Shortnose females will lay 40,000 to 200,000 eggs in one season.  It takes 2 weeks for the eggs to hatch.