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Pallid sturgeon
habitat and biology

Biologist Wade King shows a big female pallid sturgeon.

A Missouri River "Dinosaur"
From the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Deserved or not, the pallid sturgeon might best be known as one of the ugliest fish in North America.

This unusual inhabitant of the Yellowstone, Missouri and Mississippi rivers evolved from a group of fishes that were dominant during the late Cretaceous period 70 million years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth. With its flattened shovel-shaped snout, bony plates and long reptile-like tail, the pallid sturgeon even looks like a dinosaur.

Pallid sturgeon timeline
1993 - Pallid Sturgeon Recovery Plan developed. This plan outlines the steps needed for recovery of this species.

1994 - Approximately 7,000 pallid sturgeon fingerlings, reared at Blind Pony Hatchery in 1992 and stocked into the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.

1995 - Efforts to collect adult pallid sturgeon are undertaken in the upper reaches of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers. These fish are to be used as broodstock for future stocking efforts.

1997 - Four hundred and twelve 10 inch pallid sturgeon were stocked in the lower Platte River near Highway 50. These fish came from the Missouri Department of Conservation Blind Pony Hatchery.

USFWS first attempts to spawn the pallids occurred in 1997. A single female was induced and eggs were recovered. A power failure occurred the night following spawning and all eggs were lost at Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery (NFH).

1998 - 17,500 larval pallid sturgeon were hatched at Garrison Dam NFH. The fry were flown to Gavins Point NFH for further rearing.

Eighty-four 6 year old pallid sturgeon raised at the Gavins Point NFH were stocked in the lower Platte River.

A total of 1514 one-year old pallid sturgeon were stocked in seven locations in the upper basin; three above Fort Peck reservoir and four sites on the lower Yellowstone River and the Missouri River between Lake Sakakawea and Fort Peck Dam.

1999 - During early April, crews from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and Fish and Wildlife Service were at the Yellowstone River Confluence and captured 13 pallid sturgeon. Eight of the fish were delivered to Garrison Dam NFH for spawning this spring.

2000 - Approximately 400 juvenile and six adult pallid sturgeon from Gavins Point NFH were stocked into the Missouri River below Fort Randall Dam, South Dakota. These fish will be utilized in a study to better determine their habitat requirements and improve our understanding of some of their life history.

USFWS biologists found pallid sturgeon larvae confirming the first known reproduction of the pallid sturgeon in the Lower Missouri River in at least the last 50 years.

The fish is similar in appearance to its more common aquatic cousin, the shovelnose sturgeon. Like other sturgeon, the pallid's mouth is toothless and positioned under the snout for sucking small fish and other food items from the river bottom. Its known habitat extends from the Missouri River in central Montana to St. Louis; the Yellowstone River of eastern Montana; and the Mississippi River from St. Louis to the Gulf of Mexico.

Pallid sturgeon appear to prefer large, free-flowing turbid (muddy) rivers that still have a relatively natural flow regime -- that is an increase in flow during the spring months following the runoff from snow melt. Some feel this spring rise is a trigger for this species to begin moving upstream to spawn. Spawning seems to be limiting this species ability to maintain it’s population size. These fish are slow to sexually mature; males reach sexual maturity at around 7-9 years, with up to 3 years between spawns. Females are not expected to reach sexual maturity until they are 7-15 years old, with up to 10-year intervals between spawning. The pallid sturgeon is one of the largest fish found in these river systems. Old reports and photographs document fish weighing more than 80 pounds and reaching lengths of six feet.

Withstanding events that caused extinctions of many other fishes, the pallid sturgeon managed to survive over the millennia. Yet in spite of its tenacity to hang on, its future is uncertain. In 1990, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) added the pallid sturgeon to the federal endangered species list, which is reserved for species in danger of extinction.

Populations of the pallid sturgeon are now so small that the big fish are rarely seen or caught by anglers. The primary reason for their decline is believed to be habitat loss caused by man.

Pallid sturgeon evolved for millions of years in a natural river system. These waters had meandering, braided channels and backwaters that provided different depths and flow velocities. But today, the pallid's habitat is altered by dams that modify flows, reduce turbidity and lower water temperatures. The river habitats of the Missouri and Mississippi also have been altered by various channels and construction of dikes that narrow the rivers and cut-off backwater areas.

The pallid sturgeon was the first fish species of the Missouri River identified as needing a protection and recovery plan under the Endangered Species Act. The imperiled status of this species is a result of alteration of the natural habitat of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. And like a canary in a coal mine, the plight of the pallid sturgeon serves warning that the overall health of the ecosystem has suffered.

Species interact in complex ways, and survival of all native species in a given region is an indicator of a healthy ecosystem. If one species declines, others can become negatively affected. Recovery programs for any species, such as the pallid sturgeon, aim to restore the critical balance that exists between all members of a healthy ecosystem.

Besides its importance as a natural member of the Missouri and Mississippi river systems, the pallid sturgeon has economic benefits for society. Anglers who have landed an 80-pound pallid sturgeon claim it to be an exciting, rewarding gamefish. If recovery efforts are successful, the fish may become delisted and available once again for sportfishing.

The pallid sturgeon might be considered ugly to some, but to most its recovery would be nothing less than beautiful.

Pallid Sturgeon facts

Scientific name: Scaphirhynchus alubus

Status: Endangered

Nose to Fin (and everything in between): The pallid sturgeon has a "shark-like" appearance with rows of bony plates running the length of the fish. The sturgeon can weigh up to 80 pounds. The back and sides of the fish are a grayish-white color. At the front of the mouth, the "whiskers" known as barbels, vary in length. The inner barbels are about half as long as the outer barbels.

From Egg to Fish: In North Dakota, the pallid sturgeon spawns in May or June over gravel or other hard surfaces. The eggs take 5 to 8 days to hatch. Both male and female sturgeon may go 3 to 10 years between spawning.

What's for Dinner?: The pallid sturgeon feed on aquatic insects, mollusks and small fishes.

From Here to There: In North Dakota the pallid sturgeon are found in the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers. However, no reproduction of the sturgeon has been documented in more than a decade.

Habitat: The pallid sturgeon lives close to the bottom of large silty rivers with swift currents. Dams on the rivers have changed the habitat for the pallid sturgeon, causing a decline in species population.

Reasons for Decline: The main reason for the decline in the pallid sturgeon population has been the changes their natural habitat has undergone. Dams, new deep river channels, and other areas of rivers have been impounded which has resulted in lake-like habitats.

Road to Recovery: In North Dakota and Montana, efforts to hatch pallid sturgeon in captivity are underway.

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