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logo 9/24/2024 4:20:40 PM     
Unique fish released in 2005 is caught again in Georgia river. How much did it grow? 
By Mark Price US Source: modbee 11/8/2021
Mark Price
Credit: USFWS Katie Steiger Meister
Lake sturgeon have the intimidating looks to back up their reputation as a “prehistoric” fish, so it’s almost intimidating to report their protected status in Georgia is contributing to growth spurts. A sturgeon tagged and released 16 years ago was recaptured last week in northwest Georgia, and state officials say it more than doubled in size in that time. “Fisheries biologists collected two lake sturgeon from the Etowah River,” the Georgia Department of Natural Resources reported Nov. 7

 

“One of the sturgeons was 41 inches long and had previously been captured and tagged by University of Georgia personnel back in 2005 when the fish was only 17 inches long.”

That’s good news from a conservation standpoint for a species known for being “hard fighting dinosaurs.” They can get as big as an young alligator if left alone long enough, and they will eat almost anything they can fit in their mouth. (They are not a threat to humans.) As for their looks, lake sturgeon are “nearly boneless ... with sucker-like mouths, shark-like tails, sensitive barbels (whiskers) under the snout, and bony scutes (plates) along the sides and top of their bodies,” the state reports.

 
Etowah River Sturgeon, Lake Continue...


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