A prehistoric endangered fish washed up at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront
A prehistoric fish with a long snout and bony plates on its back washed ashore Saturday at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. People walking on the beach near 20th Street stopped to take pictures of the Atlantic sturgeon as the tide slowly dragged the decomposing carcass back into the water.
Sturgeon are an endangered species. In the fall, females lay eggs in the rivers of the Chesapeake Bay, and then migrate offshore, said Noelle Mathies, a marine biologist, who specializes in sturgeon research.
The adult Atlantic sturgeon that washed up on the beach was about 5 feet long. Its five rows of bony plates, called scutes, were still mostly intact, but its head was nearly detached.
“It’s rare to get a fresh one,” Mathies said.
Sturgeons have existed for more than 120 million years and were around when dinosaurs roamed the earth. They can live up to 60 years.
Their mouth works like a vacuum sucking up clams and other mollusks, crustaceans, worms and insects, according to the Chesapeake Bay Program, a restoration group.
Caviar from sturgeon eggs was considered a delicacy and led to population declines from overfishing. Other threats to sturgeon include vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries.
To report a stranded marine mammal or sea turtle, call the Virginia Aquarium’s stranding hotline at 757-385-7575.
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com
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