Sturgeons alive today from before Columbus sailed.

Wisconsin Public Radio reports that sturgeons have been discovered to live much longer than previously thought, with some individual fish surviving more than 400 years:

The findings are based on a study of five populations conducted by the Michigan and Wisconsin Departments of Natural Resources, Michigan State University and Michigan Technological University. Researchers published their results in the Journal of Fish Biology in April.

The study’s lead author, Ed Baker, said they found male lake sturgeon could live as long as 279 years and their female counterparts may live even longer, to 427 years old.

Baker always thought lake sturgeon lived longer than previous reports, but even he was surprised by the findings.

“I had no expectation that we would get ages in the 2- to 3- to 400-year range for sturgeon from a couple of the populations,” Baker said. “It’s quite evident to us at this point that lake sturgeon live very long lives. Some of them have been swimming around in the Great Lakes since before the U.S. was a country.”

…

For this study, researchers used data on lake sturgeon that had been caught, measured, tagged and recaptured over up to 44 years in the case of Lake Winnebago. They used that data to determine annual growth rates and estimate how long they live.

They worked backward to calculate longevity for males that were 160 centimeters, or about 63 inches, in length and females that were 180 centimeters, or about 71 inches, long. Males typically reach breeding age at 15 years old and females reach maturity at about 24 years of age.

The findings will guide future management of lake sturgeon. The Center for Biological Diversity previously estimated more than 15 million lake sturgeon once thrived in the Great Lakes, but overharvest and other factors reduced its population to less than 1 percent of its historical range.

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You can read more of the research here, in the Journal of Fish Biology.