Lake Sturgeon Biology, Distribution, and Status in Wisconsin

Lake Sturgeon Description - Body heavy, torpedo-shaped, angular (5-sided) in young, but round in adults. Total length of adults around 45' or more. Snout short, conical. Spiracle present. Caudal peduncle short, stout, partly naked. Lower lip with 2 lobes. Barbels on lower snout, smooth (4). Upper lobe of tail fin pointed without threadlike (filamentous) extension (compare with shovelnose sturgeon). Young gray or brown dorsally with dusky dorsal and lateral blotches. Adults gray to olivaceous dorsally, white ventrally.

Distribution and Populations Status- The lake sturgeon occurs in the Mississippi, Lake Michigan, and Lake Superior drainage basins. In the Mississippi River drainage it occurs in the Mississippi, St. Croix, Chippewa (and major tributaries), and Wisconsin rivers. In the Wisconsin River, records place it upstream to the Castle Rock Flowage (Adams County). In Lake Superior it is found in the comparatively shallow waters of Keweenaw Bay, in the vicinity of the Apostle Islands, and it is known to spawn in the Bad River (Ashland County). It has been occasionally taken in St. Louis Bay. In the Lake Michigan basin it occurs in Green Bay, Lake Michigan, the Menominee River upstream to the White Rapids Dam, the Fox River upstream to Lake Puckaway, and the Wolf River upstream to Shawano. This system includes Lakes Winnebago, Butte des Morts, and Winneconne, and the Embarrass River. It has been introduced to lakes where natural reproduction did not occur, among them: Big Cedar Lake (Washington County), the Madison lakes (Dane County), Chain of Lakes (Waupaca County), and Pear Lake (Washburn County). The lake sturgeon is listed as a rare species in the United States. Over most of its range in the United States, it appears to be threatened. In Wisconsin, it is common in the Menominee River, the lower Wolf River, Lakes Poygan and Winnebago, Lake Wisconsin, the St. Croix River to Gordon Dam, Namekagon River below Trego Dam, and the Chippewa and Flambeau rivers. It is uncommon to rare in the lower Wisconsin River, Mississippi River, the Madison lakes, and Lakes Michigan and Superior. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has given the species 'watch' status.

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