The New York Aquarium recently received five Endangered Atlantic sturgeon to educate its visitors about the importance of protecting these endangered fish, as well as other historically important fish of the Hudson River. The aquarium will display the giant fish and highlight the influence the species has had on New York State history. They will join the sand tiger sharks, sandbar sharks, nurse sharks, and other marine species native to New York waters that live in Canyon's Edge in Ocean Wonders: Sharks!, a replication of the Hudson Canyon marine ecosystem.
Ocean Wonders: Sharks! is a three-story, 57,500-square-foot building that opened summer 2018. It educates visitors on the importance of sharks and other marine species located about 100 miles off the coast of New York City.
Each sturgeon is between five and six feet in length and weights more than 120 pounds. They are identified by their rows of bony scutes, or plates, on their bodies and they have a downward-facing, tube-like mouth used to detect their prey.
“The Atlantic sturgeon is an amazing fish that was once central to the identity of the Hudson and Delaware rivers,” said Jon Forrest Dohlin, WCS Vice President and Director of the New York Aquarium. “In past centuries, the species was a big part of New York State’s regional trade in sturgeon meat and caviar. Of course, things have changed, and conservationists in New York and elsewhere are now committed to saving this imperiled species.”
