Shortnose sturgeon ( Acipenser brevirostrum ) of the Saco River Estuary: Assessment of a unique habitat

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-37
Author(s):  
C. T. Hodgdon ◽  
C. Tennenhouse ◽  
W. Y. Koh ◽  
J. Fox ◽  
J. A. Sulikowski
Keyword(s):  
River Estuary ◽  
Shortnose Sturgeon ◽  
Acipenser Brevirostrum

Biology and population characteristics of the shortnose sturgeon, Acipenser brevirostrum LeSueur 1818 (Osteichthyes:Acipenseridae), in the Saint John River Estuary, New Brunswick, Canada

1979 ◽  
Vol 57 (11) ◽  
pp. 2186-2210 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Dadswell
Keyword(s):  
Fresh Water ◽  
Growth Parameters ◽  
Saline Water ◽  
River Estuary ◽  
Fork Length ◽  
Population Characteristics ◽  
Shortnose Sturgeon ◽  
Acipenser Brevirostrum ◽  
Length Relationship ◽  
Population Weight

During a 4-year study, 4178 shortnose sturgeon were captured and 2453 marked with numbered tags and released. For adults, Z was estimated as 0.12–0.15 and F was estimated as 0.01. The population weight–length relationship was log W = 3.21 (log FL) − 5.45, where W = weight in kilograms and FL = fork length in cm. The oldest female was 67 years; the oldest male was 32 years. Von Bertalanffy growth parameters L∞, W∞, and K were 127.0 cm, 24.8 kg, and 0.047 for females, and 108.7 cm, 13.9 kg, and 0.063 for males. Sex ratio of adults was 2:1 for females. Males spawned first about age 12 and probably at 2-year intervals thereafter; females spawned at 18 years and 3- to 5-year intervals thereafter. Fecundity was 27 000 – 208 000 eggs per female. Spawning occurs in freshwater, riverine sections of the upper estuary during May–June at 10–15 °C. Feeding occurred only during May to October in fresh water but continued all year in saline water. Juveniles ate mainly insects and crustaceans; adults ate small molluscs. Juveniles remained in fresh water until they attained 45 cm, then joined the regular annual migration of adults, which moved upstream in spring–summer and seaward in fall. Many ripening females migrated upstream in fall and overwintered in deep, freshwater sites adjacent to spawning grounds. The Seber-Jolly estimate of the adult (> 50 cm) population was 18 000 ± 30%.

Transmission and development of Capillospirura pseudoargumentosa (Appy and Dadswell, 1978) (Nematoda: Cystidicolidae)

1983 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 848-859 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. G. Appy ◽  
M. J. Dadswell
Keyword(s):  
New Brunswick ◽  
River Estuary ◽  
Shortnose Sturgeon ◽  
Fourth Stage ◽  
Developmental Morphology ◽  
Gammarus Tigrinus ◽  
Acipenser Brevirostrum ◽  
Infective Larvae ◽  
The Third ◽  
Third Stage

The cystidicolid nematode, Capillospirura pseudoargumentosa (Appy and Dadswell, 1978) (Habronematoidea) moulted twice and developed to the infective third stage in Gammarus tigrinus and G. fasciatus (Amphipoda) but not in isopods, decapods, mysids or other amphipods. At 10–14 °C development to the third stage in G. tigrinus took between 28 and 40 days and at 21–25 °C, it took between 10 and 15 days. Infective larvae fed to shortnose sturgeon, Acipenser brevirostrum, moulted from the third to the fourth stage within 15 days. Moulting third- and fourth-stage larvae were found in naturally infected sturgeon collected in the Saint John River estuary, New Brunswick. The developmental morphology of C. pseudoargumentosa is compared with that of other cystidicolid nematodes.

Evaluation of four methods of transmitter attachment on shortnose sturgeon, Acipenser brevirostrum

2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (4-6) ◽  
pp. 491-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. Collins ◽  
D. W. Cooke ◽  
T. I. J. Smith ◽  
W. C. Post ◽  
D. C. Russ ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Shortnose Sturgeon ◽  
Acipenser Brevirostrum

Overwintering habitat use of shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum): defining critical habitat using a novel underwater video survey and modeling approach

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (9) ◽  
pp. 1248-1257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinhai Li ◽  
Matthew K Litvak ◽  
John E. Hughes Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Video Camera ◽  
Sampling Procedure ◽  
Shortnose Sturgeon ◽  
Underwater Video ◽  
Camera System ◽  
Critical Habitat ◽  
Acipenser Brevirostrum ◽  
Modeling Approach

The overwintering habitat use of shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) was investigated from January to March 2005 in the upper Kennebecasis River, New Brunswick, Canada, using a novel underwater video camera system and modeling approach. Following a random sampling procedure, 187 holes were drilled into the ice, and 234 sturgeon were counted and video-recorded. We found that sturgeon concentrated in a 2 ha area at the confluence of the Kennebecasis and Hammond rivers on a flat sandy substrate at a depth of 3.1–6.9 m. Generalized linear models were developed to describe the relationship of shortnose sturgeon density and habitat variables. The model indicated that the shortnose sturgeon had significant preference to deeper areas within this region. The total abundance of shortnose sturgeon in the area was estimated to be 4836 ± 69 (mean ± standard error) using the ordinary kriging method to interpolate sturgeon density at unsampled sites. This overwintering habitat of shortnose sturgeon can be defined as critical habitat following the identification policies of the Canadian Species at Risk Act (SARA).

Biology, Management, and Protection of North American Sturgeon

2002 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Extinction Risk ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Shortnose Sturgeon ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Connecticut River ◽  
Acipenser Brevirostrum ◽  
Survival And Reproduction ◽  
Very High ◽  
Existing Data

<em>Abstract.</em>—The shortnose sturgeon, <em>Acipenser brevirostrum</em>, is a long-lived species that grows slowly, matures at an advanced age, and spawns only intermittently. In the Connecticut River, there are two distinct subpopulations of shortnose sturgeon, which have been separated by the Holyoke Dam for 157 years. My research addressed the viability and persistence for these two separate populations and the effects of dispersal, variation in survival and reproduction, and catastrophes. My risk-based approach used a stage-based metapopulation model that I constructed in RAMAS<sup>®</sup> GIS incorporating the available data. Based on the existing data, this population model for the shortnose sturgeon metapopulation in the Connecticut River made several predictions. The observed stability of the two subpopulations was possible either: with reproduction in both upper and lower subpopulations and small to moderate rates of dispersal between them; or with no reproduction in the lower subpopulation, very high reproduction in the upper subpopulation and high rate of net downstream dispersal. My results provided estimates of extinction risk for the shortnose sturgeon metapopulation under various management options and highlighted three key areas for future research, demonstrating the value of a risk-based approach. This approach is particularly useful for management of long-lived aquatic species.

First documented occurrences of the shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum , Lesueur, 1818) in the Saco River, Maine, USA

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 709-712 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. E. Little ◽  
M. Kieffer ◽  
G. Wippelhauser ◽  
G. Zydlewski ◽  
M. Kinnison ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Shortnose Sturgeon ◽  
Acipenser Brevirostrum
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