Characteristics

• The white sturgeon is a large fish, capable of reaching 1,500 lbs. in weight and 20 feet in length. Its body is cylindrical, ranging in color from a greenish-gray on the back to light gray or white on the underside. It is covered in large armor-like plates called scutes. They have a large snout under which hang four barbels, whisker-like projections that the sturgeon uses to detect food. Their mouth is large and on the underside of the head.
  
  

Diet

• Both juvenile and adult white sturgeon feed predominantly on mollusks, insect larvae and small invertebrates that live in the mud at the bottom of the river. Adult white sturgeon will also eat a variety of fish species, including lampreys, smelt, shad, sticklebacks and sculpin, particularly when these fish are in their spawning phase. White sturgeon will also eat any dead fish that it finds and, depending on their environment, clams and crayfish.
  
  

Finding Food

• The white sturgeon has poor eyesight and searches for food with its barbels. These sensory protrusions feel the mud of the river bed as the sturgeon swims slowly over it. The sturgeon will often swim moving its head side to side, to increase the range of its probing. It is thought that the taste buds of white sturgeon are located outside of its mouth, further aiding prey detection.
  
  

Eating Food

• When a suitable prey animal has been located by the sturgeon, the fish uses its mouth rather like a vacuum cleaner, and sucks up the organism. It will only use its teeth when feeding on larger pieces of fish. Because of its large size and the relative smallness of the organisms that constitute its diet, the white sturgeon will spend the majority of its time searching for and eating food.
  
  

White Sturgeon As Food

• While the white sturgeon is an endangered species in some areas, the Columbia River system has a population large enough, and one that is effectively managed, to support commercial fishing. The white sturgeon is a valuable commercial fish for both its flesh and its roe (eggs), which is used for caviar. There are strict guidelines concerning the size of white sturgeon allowed to be caught and this has ensured a sustainable industry.