What’s a Pallid Sturgeon?

Landon Holte and John Hunzinker with a 30kg (66 lbs.) pallid sturgeon caught near Fort Peck on the Missouri R. early spring 2012. Dave Fuller implanted a radio tag so she can be tracked during her spawning migration.

• The pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus), a combination of Greek and Latin meaning “spade-snouted” and “white”, is an endangered species of ray-finned fish, endemic to the waters of the Missouri and lower Mississippi River basins of the United States.
• Sturgeon believed to be precursors to or possibly common ancestors of contemporary Scaphirhynchus species coexisted with dinosaurs during the Cretaceous period.

  It is one of the largest freshwater fish species in North America.

• It is the larger of the two species of sturgeon found in the Missouri River drainage. The two species are the pallid and the shovelnose sturgeon.
• Because it is endangered and we know so little about it, the pallid sturgeon is the subject of  ongoing research to better understand its needs and ensure its recovery.