An American naturalist has discovered the remains of a fish that has existed since the dinosaur era, known as the Atlantic Sturgeon, along the eastern coast of the United States.
The nearly 1-meter-long specimen was found by Allen Sklar on Assateague Island, a 60-kilometer-long strip of land along the coast of Maryland and Virginia, facing the Atlantic Ocean, Newsweek reported on February 1st.
As a naturalist specializing in wildlife and ecosystems of Assateague, Sklar identified the rare specimen as an Atlantic Sturgeon, scientifically named Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus.
Atlantic Sturgeon washed up on Assateague Island. (Photo: Allen Sklar).
“I usually drive 20 kilometers along the coast about 100 days a year, so I’ve seen a lot that others haven’t. This is only the second Atlantic Sturgeon I’ve encountered on the island in the past 27 years,” Sklar shared.
The Atlantic Sturgeon primarily inhabits estuaries and coastal waters from Canada to Florida. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, they can grow up to 4.5 meters in length and weigh over 360 kilograms when fully grown, but they typically measure between 1.8 to 2.4 meters and weigh around 140 kilograms.
This large fish, resembling a armored creature, has been on Earth for over 120 million years, dating back to when dinosaurs roamed the planet, earning it the nickname “living fossil.” In the wild, they can live up to 60 years.
Atlantic Sturgeon is considered a living fossil due to its existence since the dinosaur era. (Photo: Allen Sklar)
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The Atlantic Sturgeon was once much more abundant than it is today, but overfishing in the 19th and 20th centuries, along with habitat degradation, has led to a significant decline in their numbers. Four out of five distinct populations of Atlantic Sturgeon in the U.S. are currently listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Atlantic Sturgeon were once found throughout the Chesapeake Bay west of Assateague Island and its freshwater rivers, but today they are very rare in the area. |
