Shortnose Sturgeon confirmed in Vermont for first time in decades
Shortnosed Sturgeon
For years, reports have come in from southern Vermont of potential sightings of a prehistoric fish called Shortnose Sturgeon. The species is covered with bumpy ridges, can grow nearly the length of a bathtub, and predate most animals alive today. But no sightings of the federally endangered fish had been confirmed.
“They weren’t considered to exist in Vermont waters,” said Kate Buckman, a scientist at the Connecticut River Conservancy.
That was until this summer, when Buckman and her research team found genetic evidence of the fish in several stretches of the Connecticut River between the Turners Falls dam in Massachusetts and the dam in Bellows Falls.
