original correct spelling is ‘oxyrinchus’ (Gilbert
1992). Thus, the original spelling is used in this pa-
per. The species is represented by two subspecies
(Vladykov 1955, Wooley 1985, Birstein 1993).
Along the Canadian coast, the northern subspecies,
A.o.oxyrinchus,(referred to as Atlantic sturgeon
throughout the remainder of the paper), occurs in
Hamilton Inlet on the Atlantic coast of Labrador
(Bachus 1951), and is common in the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, the St. Lawrence River, the Saint John
River, New Brunswick, and in the Bay of Fundy
(Murawski & Pacheco^1 ). In United States waters,
this subspecies occurs along the entire Atlantic
coast to the St. Johns River in eastern Florida (Vla-
dykov & Greeley 1963). In eight of fifteen coastal
states, harvesting Atlantic sturgeon is prohibited.
The southern subspecies,A. o. desotoi.(referred
to as ‘Gulf sturgeon’ throughout this paper) has a
more restricted range and occurs in most river sys-
tems of the northern Gulf of Mexico from the
mouth of the Mississippi River to the Suwannee
River and in coastal waters as far south as Florida
Bay, Florida (Wooley & Crateau 1985). The Gulf
sturgeon differs from the Atlantic sturgeon in rela-
tive head length and pectoral fin length, shape of
dorsal scutes, and length of spleen (Vladykov 1955,
Vladykov & Greeley 1963). Wooley (1985) reexa-
tio of spleen length to fork length was the only sta-
tistically reliable characteristic to distinguish be-
tween subspecies. The Gulf sturgeon was listed as
‘threatened’ under the Endangered Species Act in
1991 and is no longer harvested.
Genetic tools are now being used to examine the
population structure of Atlantic and Gu1f stur-
geons. Bowen & Avise (1990) used restrictive frag-
ment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the
entire mitochondrial genome and reported that
sturgeon exhibited low genotypic diversity, small
sequence differences between mtDNA genotypes,
and limited sharing of genotypes between the two
coasts. More recently, Ong et al. (1996) utilized di-
rect sequence analysis of the mtDNA control re-gion and provided genetic evidence supportive of
the subspecies designations for Atlantic and Gulf
sturgeon.Life history and ecologyThere is substantial information on the life history
and ecology of Atlantic sturgeon and detailed re-
views have been provided by Murawski & Pacheco^1 ,
Hoff^2 , Rulifson & Huish (1982), Van Den Avyle^3 ,
Smith & Dingley (1984), Smith (1985), Gilbert^4 , and
Taub^5. The Atlantic sturgeon is the second largest
acipenserid fish in North America with a maximum
total length of 4.3 m (Scott & Crossman 1973, by
comparison, white sturgeon, A. transmontanus,
achieve maximum 6.1 m TL). Atlantic sturgeon un-
dertake upriver spawning migrations beginning in
February/March in the southern rivers, April/May
in the mid-Atlantic region, and May-July in Cana-
dian waters (Smith 1985). Female Atlantic sturgeon
mature at about 7–19 years in SC (Smith et al.^6 ) and
27–28 years in the St. Lawrence River (Scott &
Crossman 1973). Female Gulf sturgeon mature at
about 8–12 years in Florida (Huff^7 ); females do not
spawn every year so recruitment is very low. Inmined these differences and determined that the ra-^2 Hoff, J. G. 1980. Review of the present status of the stocks of
Atlantic sturgeon.Acipenser oxyrhynchus(Mitchill). Southeast.
Mass. Univ., Report to Nat. Mar. Fish. Ser., North Dartmouth.
136 pp.(^3) Van den Avyle, M. J. 1983. Species profiles: life histories and
environmental requirements (South Atlantic) -Atlantic stur-
geon. U.S. Fish Wildl. Ser., Div. Biol. Ser. FWS/OBS–82/11. U.S.
Army Corps Eng., TREL–82–4. 38 pp.
(^4) Gilbert, C. R. 1989. Species profiles: life histories and environ-
mental requirements of coastal fishes and invertebrates (Mid-
Atlantic Bight) – Atlantic and shortnose sturgeons. U.S. Fish
Wildl. Ser. Biol. Rep. 82(11.122), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
TR EL–82–4.28 pp.
(^5) Taub, S. H. 1990. Fishery management plan for Atlantic stur-
geon (Acipenser oxyrhynchus).Fisheries Management Rep. No.
17 of Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. 73 pp.
(^6) Smith, T. I. J., D. E. Marchette & R. A. Smiley. 1982. Life histo-
ry ecology, culture and management of Atlantic sturgeon,Aci-
penser oxrhynchus oxyrhynchusMitchill, in South Carolina.
S.C. Wildl. Mar. Resour. Res. Dep., Final Rep. to U.S. Fish Wildl.
Ser. Proj. AFS–9. 75 pp.
(^7) Huff, J. A. 1975. Life history of Gulf of Mexico sturgeon, Aci-
penser oxyrhynchus desotoi, in Suwannee River, Florida. Florida
Dep. Nat. Resour., Mar. Resour. Publ. 16, St. Petersburg. 32 pp.
(^1) Murawski, S. A. & A. L. Pacheco. 1977. Biological and fisheries
data on Atlantic sturgeon,Acipenser oxyrhynchus (Mitchill).
Nat. Mar. Fish. Ser., Tech. Ser. Rep. 10: 1–69.