Filling Knowledge Gaps for a Threatened Species: Age and Growth of Green Sturgeon of the Southern Distinct Population Segment

Abstract The Green Sturgeon Acipenser medirostris is an anadromous, long-lived species that distributed along the Pacific coast of North America. vulnerable to global change because its sensitive life history (e.g., delayed maturation) and few spawning locations. persistence threatened by habitat modification, altered flows, rising river temperatures. In 2006, persistent stressors, U.S. Endangered Species Act listed southern distinct population segment as threatened. Despite increased research efforts on this after listing, substantial gaps in basic information for remain. We present only published age structure growth a Sturgeon. By analyzing archived fin rays collected from 1984 2016, we revealed highly variable among individuals. detected several classes 0 26 y found similar rates compared with northern Although limited, analysis important first step understanding dynamics highlights critical needs.