related species, the Atlantic sturgeon, are 2.5 mm to 2.6 mm in diameter, are 

 demersal, and stick to submerged weeds and rocks. They apparently are 

 broadcast with no parental care and hatch in 7 days at 17.8 1 or 64°F (Clayton 

 et al. 1976). The eggs of shortnose sturgeon hatch in about 13 days at 8°C to 

 12°C or 44°F to 54°F (Carlander 1969). 



Shortnose sturgeon are slow growing. In the St. John River estuary, New 

 Brunswick, Canada, shortnose sturgeon exhibited a growth rate of 1 to 3 cm/yr 

 (0.4 to 1 inch/yr) although longevity was great (34+ years; Dadswell 1975). 

 In the Hudson River, males mature at age V and females at age VI (Greeley 

 1937). Growth data for shortnose sturgeon captured in the Hudson River are 

 (from Greeley 1937): 



AGE NO. MEAN TL (mm) MEAN WT. (gm] 



III 3 480 766 



IV 5 536 807 



V 19 564 1,129 



VI 12 615 1,469 



VII 14 615 1,460 



VIII 8 653 1,660 



IX 4 795 3,098 



X 3 732 2,150 



XI 4 678 1,955 



XII 3 787 3,093 



XIII 4 665 1,941 



XIV 2 711 2,622 



Food and Feeding Habits 



Shortnose sturgeon are bottom feeders. Hudson River specimens (young 

 sturgeon) fed upon sludgeworms, chironomid larvae, small crustaceans, and some 

 plant material. In the St. John River estuary, shortnose sturgeon feed on 

 molluscs primarily, while a specimen in the Connecticut River was found to 

 prey upon burrowing mayfly larvae principally; ostracods, caddis flies, 

 oligochaetes , seeds, wood, and sand were also found in its stomach (Clayton et 

 al. 1976). 



Young and adult shortnose sturgeon alike compete for food with other bottom 

 feeders such as suckers, but their random, suctorial feeding habit may have 

 some advantage over the many species of fishes that browse on individual 

 bottom organisms in the same turbid rivers (Scott and Crossman 1973). 



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