Lake Sturgeon

Acipenser fulvescens or the Lake Sturgeon is a bottomfeeder, subsisting primarily on live foods sucked up from the bottom of lakes and rivers, such as leeches, worms, and other organizisms living in sand and muck. Some will eat small fish as well, like the invasive round goby. Despite the small size of their prey, sturgeons can grow up to 7.25 feet in length, and can live up to 55 years for males, or to between 80 to 150 years for females. Their long lives also mean they take longer to reach maturity, around 8 to 12 years or up to 22 years, and females typically only spawn once every 4 or 5 years. This, along with overfishing for meat and roe, habitat loss, and being killed as a 'nuisance' in the late 1800s has lead to their status as endangered. To combat this, since the 2000s conservation efforts have worked to breed the fish and keep the eggs safe in hatcheries, releasing them into their native habitats once grown.