density. Additionally, obtaining information on nursery areas and characterization of nursery habitat is a major priority. Description The shortnose sturgeon is the smallest of three sturgeon species that are present in the eastern seaboard of North America. It has a cylindrical body and compared to the Atlantic sturgeon, its head and snout are relatively small. Younger shortnose sturgeons tend to have longer snouts compared to their older counterparts. Adult sturgeons have bony plates along their esophagus that help them crush hard items instead of having teeth. Shortnose sturgeon are cartilaginous with bones only in the skull, jaw and pectoral girdle. It is a physostome fish, so its swim bladder is connected to the intestinal tract by a special duct. This duct allows for gas pressure regulation through swallowing air or releasing air through the gut. The intestines for shortnose sturgeon are dark and have a spiral valve (important for nutrient absorption), similar to that of sharks and rays. As seen in the image, these sturgeons tend to be generally dark brown to olive/black on the dorsal surface. Shortnose sturgeon tend to consume small bivalves, gastropods, polychaetes, and small benthic fishes based on studies of their gut contents. The most common prey are amphipods, while Atlantic sturgeon primarily consume polychaetes. Some reports have found that female adult shortnose sturgeon feed throughout the year, but a study from the Saint John River found that pre-spawning females rarely had food in their stomachs and likely stopped feeding about eight months prior to spawning while ripening males generally had full stomachs. Sturgeon are often called "living fossils", due to their ancient lineage and a fossil record that points to a holarctic distribution. With the earliest reported remains of North American sturgeon dating to the late Cretaceous period. Sturgeons have bony plates called scutes that extend from the skull to the caudal peduncle and are divided into five rows on the body: one dorsal row, then two lateral and ventral rows respectively. The fins on the shortnose sturgeon are located far back on the body. The pectoral fins are positioned low, while the pelvic fins are along with the abdominal position. Prominent features of the shortnose sturgeon are the scutes, protractile tube-like mouth, and chemosensory barbels. Sturgeon tend to be long-lived, slow-maturing, and spawn infrequently, which have served the species well through evolutionary time but poorly to anthropogenic impacts like overharvesting, habitat loss, and degradation.