Image by George Seiffert

Shortnose Sturgeon

Shortnose Sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum), one of the smallest sturgeons at 4 feet long, is found in saltwater estuaries and freshwater rivers from Canada to Florida. Having lived for over 120 million years, they even look prehistoric with 5 rows of external scutes along the length of their body and a short snout with 4 barbels. Many live for decades, with females into their 60s. They are bottom feeders, using their barbels to locate insects, mollusks, and crustaceans.

Having no teeth, their shovel-shaped snouts help to keep the riverbed clean as they sweep across the gravel or sandy bottoms and deep pools, sucking up their food. Habitat loss, pollution, dams, and fisheries bycatch have all contributed to their placement on the endangered species list. The hope for their survival rests on conservation work, restoring habitat, and enacting fishing regulations.

Resources: fisheries.noaa.gov/species/shortnose-sturgeon‍, ‍thedogman.net‍, Chesapeakebay.net

What do you love about this particular creature?
What do they reveal to you about God and our faith?

The Shortnose Sturgeon has sustained indigenous peoples for thousands of years. To the tribes, the sturgeon has been a sacred being and its presence in their rivers was not only “a source of food, medicine, and spiritual significance” but also “a sign of good luck and abundance.” According to some records, it “saved the early Jamestown settlers from starvation.”

The Shortnose Sturgeon serves others in creation by indicating water quality, cleaning rivers, and providing food for birds, mammals, and bigger fish. Its place as a part of a larger ecosystem reminds me that God calls us to offer our gifts in some form of service to a wider, perhaps unseen, ecosystem.

Author - Christine Hayes

Christie Hayes is a parishioner at St. John’s Episcopal Church Niantic who loves exploring and learning about God’s creatures along the coast of Connecticut.

God of river and estuary habitats, you have worked over millions of years to create webs of species which can sustain each other. Bless the work of the Shortnose Sturgeons as they use their gifts to clean our streams and feed others in the process. Make us ever mindful of the intricate web you have woven on our Mother Earth and the urgency to protect it, that we may continue to glorify you through our efforts. Ame,n