A prehistoric-looking Gulf sturgeon washed up this week on the shores of Mobile Bay. The fish can grow up to 9 feet in length and weigh more than 300 pounds. Their lifespan is 20-25 years but they can live as long as 50 years.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Gulf sturgeon has five rows of bony plates known as scutes that run along its body, something that can be seen in the photo. It also has a snout with four barbels – slender, whisker-like, soft-tissue projections – in front of its mouth.
The fish can grow up to 9 feet in length and weigh more than 300 pounds. Their lifespan is 20-25 years but they can live as long as 50 years. In 1991, Gulf sturgeon were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act after overfishing, dam construction and habitat degradation greatly reduced their numbers. They are now managed by NOAA Fisheries and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Gulf sturgeon typically occur from the Mississippi River east to Tamp Bay, Florida though sporadic occurrences have been recorded as far west as the Rio Grande River in Texas and Mexico to Florida Bay in the east. Presently, they range extends from Lake Pontchartrain and the Pearl River system in Louisiana and Mississippi respectively, east to the Suwannee River in Florida.
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