A pallid sturgeon recently captured by biologists in the Platte River may result in researchers rethinking what they know about the endangered fish.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers were sampling fish on March 31, as part of a study of shovelnose sturgeon, when they captured a pallid sturgeon near Leshara, about 50 miles upstream from the confluence with the Missouri River. It was the first time biologists have captured a pallid sturgeon upstream from the confluence of the Elkhorn River.

“We knew that pallid sturgeon occur in the lower 10-15 miles of the Platte River, but we were not expecting to find a pallid sturgeon this far upstream,” said Marty Hamel, one of the UNL researchers who made the discovery.

The UNL researchers have captured four other pallid sturgeon this spring while sampling, but they were captured within two miles of the confluence with the Missouri River.

“This capture is significant and will likely cause us to reassess what we know about pallid sturgeon in the Platte River,” Hamel said. “The Platte River may be important for future recovery efforts because it could provide necessary habitat for one or more of the life stages of pallid sturgeon, including spawning and nursery habitats which are thought to be limited throughout the pallid sturgeon’s range.”

The captured sturgeon, which measured about 30 inches in length and weighed about 5 pounds, was stocked in the Missouri on April 11, 2002, near Boonville, Mo. The fish moved more than 475 miles upstream from its stocking location to where it was captured.

UNL fisheries biologists have been evaluating shovelnose sturgeon in the Platte within Nebraska. Shovelnose sturgeon, a common game fish species, are found in portions of the Platte and Missouri rivers. The shovelnose is important because it provides insight into the biology and ecology of its close relative, the pallid sturgeon.

Pallid sturgeon are found in the Mississippi River drainage, including the Missouri. Numerous federal and state agencies are working diligently on pallid sturgeon recovery efforts. Stocking is a critical component of those efforts; about 79,000 pallid sturgeon have been stocked in the Missouri over the past 15 years.

UNL faculty, students and research associates initiated a five-year study on shovelnose sturgeon population dynamics in the Platte in 2008. While the focus of the study is on shovelnose sturgeon, researchers hope to gain valuable information as to the importance of the Platte for both sturgeon species.