A few years ago while living on the Magothy River I saw a dead Sturgeon washed up on shore. He was maybe 3 feet long and I thought not to long ago there were monsters that once roamed the bay and ocean. So I found out a few fun facts about them and thought I would post them here
1996
July 1996, approximately 3,000 juvenile Atlantic sturgeon were stocked in the Nanticoke River.
Female fish mature when they are 10 to 15 years of age and only spawn once every 2 to 6 years
Their diet consists of worms, crustaceans, insect larvae, and mollusks
- The oldest Atlantic sturgeon was captured from the St. Lawrence River and was aged to be 60 years old.
- The largest Atlantic sturgeon recorded was caught off Canada and measured 14 feet long and weighed 811 pounds!
- The species name of Atlantic sturgeon "oxyrhinchus" means "sharp snout".
- Early settlers reported huge schools leaping from the Susquehanna and James, and referred to sturgeon as navigational hazards.
- An American officer during the Revolution had his leg broken by a ten foot sturgeon that leaped into his boat as he rowed across the Potomac at Georgetown.
Has anyone ever seen one of these critters?