Category Archives: Larval Sampling

A Most Unexpected Event

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Hallie Ladd

USGS biologists captured a single drifting free-embryo sturgeon in their nets while sampling the Lower Missouri River near the confluence with the Mississippi River on August 22, 2012 (see photo below).  The tiny sturgeon was barely a half of an … Continue reading →

Posted in Larval Sampling |

How to Drink From a Fire Hose

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Kimberly Chojnacki

Since 2009, larval sampling efforts have focused on capturing newly hatched and drifting larvae immediately downstream of a suspected pallid sturgeon spawning site (see previous posts “Searching for a needle in a haystack” and “Panning for biological gold”).  In 2012 … Continue reading →

Posted in Larval Sampling, Uncategorized |

Which came first, the sturgeon or the egg?

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Emily Pherigo

While the Comprehensive Sturgeon Research Project (CSRP) at the USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center (CERC) is focused on pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) and the closely-related shovelnose sturgeon (S. platorynchus), the CERC also conducts behavioral, physiological and toxicological research on other … Continue reading →

Posted in Larval Sampling, Sturgeon culture and propagation, Uncategorized | Tagged , |

A Missouri River delicacy

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Emily Pherigo

Fairy shrimp are small crustaceans only distantly related to lobsters, crabs, and the shrimp we commonly find on our dinner tables.  Most species are rather small, seldom larger than an inch in length.  Adapted to temporary habitats, fairy shrimp eggs … Continue reading →

Posted in Flooding, Larval Sampling, Uncategorized | Tagged , |

Day old sturgeon caught in Lower Missouri River

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Emily Pherigo

Biologists sampled a suspected pallid sturgeon spawning site approximately 4 miles up the James River from its confluence with the Missouri River in South Dakota on May 12 and 13.  Two days of sampling resulted in the collection of 84 larval paddlefish, … Continue reading →

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Searching for a needle in a haystack

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Emily Pherigo

Female pallid sturgeon with eggs are very rare on the Lower Missouri River.  When one spawns she will release as few as 8,000 to 20,000 eggs over a 12 to 36 hour period.  Those eggs are released in swift water … Continue reading →

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