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What are the bumps on their backs? They are circular pieces of bone with a point in the middle. When another animal bites into it, it will get a hard bony point in its mouth. How do sturgeon find their food? Sturgeon do not have to see their food in order to eat, unlike salmon. Sturgeon use their barbels, the things that look like whiskers, to feel and smell their food. How big are sturgeon eggs and how do they grow? For such a big fish, sturgeon eggs and babies are very small.
They are about the size of a small bead. Sturgeon like to lay their eggs in fast moving water, which spreads the eggs out. The eggs are heavier than water and sink to the bottom, where they stick. Sturgeon like fast moving water so, dirt and other silt can not cover the eggs and kill them. They have no teeth. When they find food, they extend their tube-like mouths and quickly suck in. Firmly clamping its prey in its jaw, the sturgeon then sucks in some water to strain out any silt or sand through its gills.
Sturgeon generally live in deep lakes or river habitats were it is dark and murky. As a result, they may not rely on their vision to spot food or predators. Other fish, like trout, would swim away.
Sturgeon rely on their other senses, including: Corkscrew shaped nostrils and heightened sense of smell. Ability to detect electromagnetic fields, which enable them to detect a living organism, such as a clam or crayfish, in the lake bottom. Sturgeon eat primarily animals, such as leeches, crayfish, small fish, clams, and a variety of insects.
The fish in our aquarium eat frozen blood worms. In the wild, blood worms would be considered a delicacy! Back to top How they spawn Lake Sturgeon are very slow to mature. They do not reproduce until they are at least 15 years old for males and 25 years old for females.
When mature, females spawn only once every 4 to 6 years. Lake sturgeon became a commercially valuable resource that was soon overharvested. In , more than 4 million pounds of sturgeon were processed in Michigan, taken from Lake Huron and Lake St. By , the total sturgeon harvest from all the Great Lakes fell to less than 2, pounds. In addition to commercial fishing, the remaining sturgeon population faced a growing number of threats. Newly constructed dams blocked access to river spawning habitat.
Other spawning locations were destroyed by sedimentation from farming and logging and increased industrial pollution. The current lake sturgeon population is estimated to be 1 percent of its historical abundance in Michigan. Michigan now prohibits commercial fishing for lake sturgeon and closely regulates sturgeon sport fishing.
A limited number of sportfishing licences are issued each year.
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