THE STURGEON FAMILY Acipenseridae

SHORTNOSE STURGEON Acipenser brevirostrum (Lesueur, 1818)

DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE: Native - State and Federally Endangered. First recognized in the Connecticut River by Professor T.J. Andrews (U.Mass) in 1951. Two Connecticut River populations exist with little interchange of individuals between populations; one population is landlocked between the Turners Falls Dam and the Holyoke Dam and the other ranges downstream of the Holyoke Dam. The total number of adults in the Connecticut River is thought to be fewer than 1,000 fish. Shortnose sturgeon were first documented in the Merrimack in 1988 by the Massachusetts Cooperative Fisheries Research Unit. Older records indicate that there were populations in Waquoit Bay (Cape Cod), the Taunton River, the Parker River, and possibly the Charles River.

ATLANTIC STURGEON Acipenser oxyrhynchus Mitchill, 1814

DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE:Native - State Endangered. In Massachusetts, the species is very rare and recent freshwater records are limited to the Merrimack and Taunton rivers. In the mid-late 1970s, a single, 8-foot long sturgeon was seen at the base of the Essex Dam, Lawrence on two occasions in late June. Recent surveys (1988-91) by the Massachusetts Cooperative Fisheries Unit have studied and radio tagged a few 30-inch fish in the vicinity of Haverhill. Whether these fish are part of a Merrimack population or just transients is unknown at this time. Historic records indicate that they reproduced in the Taunton River and a juvenile was found thereby the Cooperative Unit researchers in 1991. Specimens are still found in small numbers along the coast and are occasionally taken by trawlers. There are also old records that indicate that this species most likely entered the Charles, Parker, and other smaller rivers.