Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: South Dakota
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Since 1990, the pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) has been listed under the Endangered Species Act. Our research addresses knowledge gaps in the early life-history of the pallid sturgeon. Past research has found that a fundamental aspect of early life history of pallid sturgeon is larval drift. The lack of natural recruitment in this species requires a basic knowledge of the feeding and life-history attributes for larval and juvenile stages once larvae settle into nursery habitats. Thus, efforts to restore the pallid sturgeon must be augmented with a knowledge of their early life-history. To address these issues, we are conducting a combination of laboratory and in-situ experiments to identify prey selectivity, habitat preference, and factors affecting survival of larval pallid sturgeon