Sturgeons

The caviar, which is famous for its delicacy, is actually fish eggs laid by sturgeons. These long-lived fish have an average lifespan of 50 to 60 years, with many individuals living for 100 years or longer. External fertilization is the way they reproduce. Females typically lay 100,000 to 3 million eggs per cycle, although not all of them are fertilized.

A single female sturgeon can lay up to half a million eggs in her lifetime, but only a few will develop into adults (mom and dad provide no protection or nest for the eggs once laid). The eggs get sticky and stick to the bottom of the substrates. Larval fish follow river currents downstream into backwater areas after an eight to fifteen-day gestation period. Small fry eventually returns to larger rivers. Many species move up rivers to breed, making them anadromous.

Although sturgeon have outlived numerous species and lived for hundreds of millions of years, the rise of the human population has had a negative impact on their population. These fish are mostly valued for their flesh and roe as a food source. It was almost hunted to extinction because its eggs were in high demand. Therefore, the Endangered Species Act now protects sturgeon, and new procedures allow eggs to be gathered without injuring the fish.