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February 19, 2002
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*
White Sturgeon *
Acipenser
Transmontanus
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The Sturgeon
are a scavenger fish feeding off the bottom of the rivers
they inhabit. Their appearance and function has undergone
little change in 200 million years. The head and body are
covered with rows of bony plates rather than scales as in
modern fish.
Sturgeon grow slowly but attain enormous size. They first
spawn around 15 years of age, eventually reaching upwards
of 18 feet and 1200 lbs. in weight. They have been known
to live 100 years. They are prized for their meat, and
their eggs are that delicacy we call caviar.
I took this as well as several more pictures at a fish
hatchery on the Columbia River not far from the
Bonneville dam in Oregon.
