Lake sturgeon

Imagine a fish that can be as long as a small car! That's the Lake sturgeon. These amazing fish live in rivers and lakes all over North America. They are super old, like dinosaurs of the water! They have a long, pointy nose that they use like a vacuum cleaner to find yummy snacks on the bottom of the water. They are truly gentle giants of the freshwater world.

Lake sturgeons are bottom feeders, which means they love to eat things that live on the riverbed. They use their special noses to stir up the mud and find tasty treats like bugs and small fish. They also have four little feelers, called barbels, near their mouths that help them find food even when it's dark. It's like having built-in treasure detectors for finding snacks!

These fish are built tough! Instead of scales like most fish, Lake sturgeons have rows of hard, bony plates along their sides and back. These plates are like armor, protecting them from anything that might try to bother them. They also have a skeleton that's partly made of cartilage, like the stuff in your nose and ears, which makes them flexible and strong.

Lake sturgeons are one of the oldest types of fish still swimming today. They have been around for a very, very long time. They are important because they help keep the rivers and lakes clean by eating things off the bottom. They are a special part of North America's watery homes and we should help protect them!