The sturgeon is of a type of fish that first appeared in the fossil record around 245 to 208 million years ago. They have no scales, but are armoured with bony plates and a shark-like tail fin. Their lives are long and slow and they can live up to 150 years, growing to some size. The largest sturgeon on record was a 24ft long Beluga female, caught presumably for her roe, which we prize as caviar.
They seldom surface, preferring the depths of the pond except when the water begins to warm after winter, or when it lacks oxygen in summer.
This one is safe from fishermen. With two others of a similiar size and a smaller white one, this sturgeon, with its starry markings, lives in my son’s pond. They are youngsters yet and may grow some more, but already they are around three feet in length with a girth of around two feet. Thankfully, it is a very big pond.
Watching them through the pristine water is like looking back through a window on the ancient past.
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
Sturgeon makes me think of a rhyme my Cookery teacher used to say to us older girls in secondary school about where caviar came from…
Caviar comes from a virgin sturgeon
Virgin sturgeon very rare fish
Virgin sturgeon needs no urgin’
That’s why caviar very rare dish!
🐟
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My mother used to sing that ditty!
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🙂
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Makes me giggle even now over 25 years later… I have fond memories of Mrs Peakman 😊
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I’ve never heard that one before, Ritu 🙂
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Glad to have introduced you to something Sue! !!!
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It made me chuckle too 🙂
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😁
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Great haiku followed by a neat write-up… 🙂
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Thanks Maniparna.
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Love the haiku.
It must be a good sized pond there. How calming to sit and watch them. (They look a bit like our gar fish)
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It is a big, deep pond with many more fish…. I love watching them.
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A great Haiku, as always, and a wonderful lesson on sturgeon.
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Thanks, Michelle 🙂
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I catch and release those on the Snake River. Reminds me I need to go try it again.
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My younger son is a fisherman…he looks at these ones and sighs…
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They’re tough, just make sure to turn them loose. I have a hard time eating something older than I am.
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My son always turns them loose, and with respect. I had a hard time reconciling myself to fishing for anything other than food, but watching him grow up, I had to alter my opinions. The benefits he has found for himself in the peace and tranquility of water cannot be overstated. More than that, he developed a real love and respect for nature and her creatures by being close to them and privileged to watch them for long hours.
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How amazing, I had no idea they were so ancient or so long lived!
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Neither had I till Nick started keeping them.
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How lovely to have your own mini waterway, all those quiet moments at your fingertips!
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It is beautiful…I can watch the fish for hours.
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I know what you mean, probably just as well I don’t have one, I’d never get anything done!
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It’s surprising… a ten minute break by the pond seems to give you a kick start 🙂
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Every time…
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🙂
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I’ve seen them in the Niagara River, while scuba diving. We would do “river drifts” and I was startled to see my dive buddy way off on my left, when I knew he was attached to the float line on my right side – until the image came closer and I realized I was drifting just 5 feet away from a 6 ft. long sturgeon. That was impressive.
I enjoyed your haiku.
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Thank you. They are magnificent creatures… even at three feet. I can’t imagine them at six! Pictures don’t really convey the life in them,
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Such a fascinating fish and what a history!
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There is a lot to know about that family of fish .
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