Lake Sturgeon

One of the many interesting creatures inhabiting Lake Champlain is the lake sturgeon. It is one of the largest freshwater fish. Mature adults average between three and five feet in length and weigh from ten to eighty pounds, but can sometimes measure over seven feet long and weigh over 300 pounds.

The lake sturgeon has a torpedo-shaped body, covered with five rows of bony plates: one row on top and two rows on each side. The lake sturgeon has a sharp, cone-shaped snout with four smooth barbels on its underside.

People near water inhabited by sturgeon have reported mysterious sounds and vibrations, apparently caused by the sturgeon. Native-Americans in the Fox and Wolf River watersheds of Wisconsin have long associated this “thunder” with sturgeon spawning runs in the spring .

Here’s an interesting article from the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Program about ‘sturgeon thunder’: Sturgeon “Thunder” Has Roots in Biological Process… (Read More) .….

Related articles

• Atlantic Sturgeon Declared Endangered Species (baltimore.cbslocal.com)
• Delaware: Some Sturgeon Declared to Be Endangered (nytimes.com)
• Sturgeon Scarcity Affects More Than Caviar (npr.org)
• Lake Sturgeon Restocking Program Considered (HarborWatch.com)