Wisconsin's sturgeon

Illustration of Shovelnose Sturgeon by Joe Tomelleri

Shovelnose Sturgeon Common name: Shovelnose Sturgeon (Sand Sturgeon)

Scientific name: Scaphyirhynchus platorynchus (Scaphyirhynchus means spade snout and platorynchus means broad snout.

Identification

Body much elongated; torpedo-shaped. Snout long, spade-shapedl. Spiracle absent. Caudal peduncle (in front of tail) slender and completely encased in bony plates. Lower lip with four lobes. Barbels on lower snout, strongly fringed, 4. Upper lobe of tail elongated into a threadlike (filamentous) extension (often broken off). Adults tawny to gray or olivaceous dorsally, lighter ventrally.

Distribution

The shovelnose sturgeon occurs only in the Mississippi drainage basin, appearing in the Mississippi River, the Wisconsin River upstream to the Prairie du Sac Dam, the St. Croix River upstream to St. Croix Falls Dam, the Chippewa River up to the Eau Claire Dam, and the Red Cedar River upstream to the Menomonie Dam.

Spawning

Spawning takes place during May and June. In the Red Cedar-Chippewa rivers, shovelnose sturgeon spawned the last week in May through the first week in June at water temperatures of 67-70° F. It is generally accepted that shovelnose sturgeon migrate upstream for spawning.

Harvesting Shovelnose Sturgeon

There is a year-round hook and line season on shovelnose sturgeon in the lower Wisconsin River (below the Prairie du Sac Dam).

For more information, please contact:

Karl Scheidegger, Fisheries Biologist
(608) 267-7498