White sturgeon from the Columbia River have been known to go as far south as the Sacramento River in California and as far north as the Frasier River in Canada. Other sources claim white sturgeon as long as twenty feet, weighing nearly a ton. WHITE STURGEON WEIGHT/AGE CHART LENGTH (Ft.) 3’1” 3’3” 3’5” 3’7” 3’9” 3’11” 4’1” 4’3” 4’5” 4’7” 4’9” 4’11” 5’1” 5’3” 5’5” 5’7” 5’9” 5’11” White sturgeon depend on a number of environmental cues in the spring to spawn - these include water temperature, day length, strength of water current and riverbed material. A 3 foot sturgeon is 8 years old; a 4 foot sturgeon is 12 years old; a 5 foot sturgeon is 17 years old and 6 foot sturgeon is 23 years old. It is found primarily in the Caspian and Black Sea basins, and formerly in the Adriatic Sea. Going on maximum size, it is the third most massive living species of bony fish. The white sturgeon can grow 20 feet long and weigh more than 1,500 pounds! Those greater than 15 feet are suspected of reaching weights in excess of 3,000 pounds.
Fraser River White Sturgeon study program. Coloring can range from gray to brownish on the dorsal side, paler on the ventral side, and gray fins. Barbels are situated anterior to the mouth, closer to the snout than the mouth. The White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) is the largest freshwater fish in North America, with the maximum recorded length of any age class at 20 feet.The maximum published weight known is 1,799 pounds, with a reported age of 104 years. At sexual maturity, A. transmontanus can reach 1.6 m in length, while the maximum length recorded of any age class is 6.1 m, with common lengths around 2. The Beluga /bəˈluːɡə/ or Great sturgeon is a species of anadromous fish in the sturgeon family of order Acipenseriformes. White sturgeon grow between 7 and 12 inches during their first year and 4 inches a year until they reach 3 feet in length, and then 3 inches a year until reaching sexually maturity. Heavily fished for the female's valuable roe, known as beluga caviar, wild populations have been greatly reduced by overfishing and poaching.
Biologists once measured a white sturgeon caught in the Fraser River, British Columbia, to be nearly 14 feet long, weighing over 1,500 pounds! Did you know that White Sturgeon are the largest freshwater fish in North America and can weigh over 500 kilograms, be over 5 meters in length (the largest recorded was over 6 meters long), and live for over 100 years? A. transmontanus is distinguished by the two rows of four to eight ganoid bony plates between the anus and anal fin, with about 45 rays present in the dorsal fin. By James H. Hale. The following chart was supplied courtesy of B. C. Frasier River White Sturgeon … White Sturgeon in the Nechako watershed tend to be smaller, but can still live just as long! Scientists believe that giant white sturgeon can live for more than 80 years. Adult sturgeon do not build nests but rather the male and female release sperm and eggs together in the water current - called broadcast spawning.