Nearly Extinct Prehistoric Fish Lake Sturgeon Respawns in Mississippi River

The lake sturgeon, a prehistoric fish that was recently on the verge of extinction, was discovered last week respawning in the Mississippi River on the rocky banks of Maple Island, close to West Alton's Melvin Price Locks and Dam.

Nearly Extinct Prehistoric Fish Lake Sturgeon

It's only the third time lake sturgeon has spawned in Missouri since conservation groups here and across the US began working to protect the species about 40 years ago. Lake sturgeon are large, bottom-feeding fish with a distinct bony plate armor. Sturgeon has only been known to breed in Maple Island once before in 2015 and again in 2022. When water temperatures are ideal for sturgeon to spawn for two to three weeks in April each year, conservationists work to create the ideal conditions.

The gray-brown bodies of lake sturgeon are those of prehistoric fish with flat heads and barbels. They can weigh up to 200 pounds, grow to a length of over 7 feet, and live up to 150 years. Sadly, they have been listed as endangered in a few states, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service is taking into account doing so for the upcoming year.

By the middle of the 20th century, dam construction, pollution, and overfishing had all but eliminated lake sturgeon. However, populations have recently started to slightly recover, with higher numbers being observed in lakes in Maine, Florida, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Hoping for a Respawn

Over the past three decades, Missouri conservationists have annually released many thousands of lake sturgeon cultivated in US Fish and Wildlife Service hatcheries into the Missouri and Mississippi rivers in the hopes that they will start reproducing when they are old enough, typically between the ages of 25 and 35.

Lake sturgeon require habitats with rocky, hard surfaces for spawning, as well as adequate water flow to keep the sturgeon eggs clean and with ample oxygen. Floods and other weather-related events, however, change the environment.

However, the Gladstone Dispatch reported that lake sturgeon were found to be spawning close to the Maple Island region in 2015.

Following that, environmentalists collaborated with the US Army Corps of Engineers to modify the water flow from the nearby Melvin Price dam to replicate the conditions. The lake sturgeon spawned once more in 2022 and once more this year, according to Cherokee Tribune & Ledger-News.

Banks of Mississippi River

Hundreds of eggs are released by female lake sturgeon during spawning season, while males fertilize the eggs by slapping their tails. While keeping an eye on the river bank on Maple Island, a team led by Sarah Peper observed this phenomenon. Using sonar, they later found additional fish spawning on the river bottom below. While some of the spawning fish may have come from as far away as South Dakota, others may have come from other states including juveniles in Missouri from decades ago.

Conservation groups will work on monitoring the fish to determine where they move to find habitat now that the spawning has concluded for the season. After spawning, eggs take seven to ten days to hatch, St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.