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Lake Sturgeon
Sturgeon


Identifying Characteristics: (Native Fish) Most notable characteristic is the 5 rows of bony plates (scutes) that become less distinguishable in adults. Lake sturgeons have a large protrusible, suctorial mouth on the bottom side of the head with 4 barbels in front of the mouth and beneath the snout. Lake sturgeons have a single dorsal fin located far back near the caudal (tail) fin. The tail is heterocercal with the upper lobe much larger than the rounded lower lobe. Lake sturgeon have no simple scales, the body is covered by dermal denticles on tough skin. Juvenile lake sturgeon are a sandy brown color with black blotches, while adults are olive-brown to grey with white underneath and lacking black blotches.
Lake Sturgeons inhabit large river and lake systems. It has and continues to represent an important biological component of the Great Lakes fish community. By the early 1900's many populations of lake sturgeon throughout their range had been greatly reduced or extirpated as a result of overfishing, habitat loss, the construction of dams, and pollution. Lake sturgeons are listed as a threatened species in Michigan and either threatened or endangered by 19 of the 20 states within its original range in the United States. This ancient family of fishes has been recognized since the Upper Cretaceous period (136 million years ago), at a time when dinosaurs were at the height of their development. Lake sturgeons have retained primitive internal structures such as a cartilaginous vertebrae and a notochord, instead of calcified bone as found in modern fish.
Lake sturgeons are the only sturgeon species endemic to the Great Lakes basin and are the largest freshwater fish indigenous (native) to that system. Lake sturgeon can be considered a nearshore, warmwater species with water temperature and depth preferences of low 50s to mid-60oF and 15-30 feet, respectively. Lake sturgeons are benthivores, feeding on small invertebrates such as insect larvae, crayfish, snails, clams, and leeches that they find along the bottom.
Life history characteristics of lake sturgeon are unique with respect to other Michigan fishes. Sexual maturity in females is reached between 14 and 33 years, most often from 24-26 years; and, 12 to 17 years for males. Female lake sturgeons spawn once every 3 to 7 years while males spawn every 1 to 4 years

In the Upper Peninsula they are found in the St. Mary’s River System, Little and Big Bay de Noc, and in Portage Lake. There possibly are some populations the larger lakes of the Upper Peninsula.