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Fishery researchers and managers have found that in most cases the ratios <br />shown in Figure 1 more clearly separated the species in the upper basin States <br />than they did in the lower basin States. They also found that upper basin <br />specimens of both species are typically larger in average weight and length <br />than species collected from the lower Missouri River and Mississippi River. <br />Although in most instances pallid sturgeon are lighter in color than <br />shovelnose sturgeon, coloration cannot consistently be relied upon as a means <br />of separating the two species (Kallemeyn 1983). <br />The pallid sturgeon is one of the largest fish species found in the <br />Missouri /Mississippi River drainage, with specimens approaching 39 kilograms <br />(kg) (86 lbs) reported (Galbraith et al. 1988). Adult pallid sturgeon <br />collected from the upper Missouri River are generally larger than adults <br />collected from the middle Missouri River and Mississippi River. The maximum <br />recorded weight of a pallid sturgeon collected from the Missouri River in <br />Montana and North Dakota is approximately 39 kg (86 lbs). From the Missouri <br />River in South Dakota and Nebraska, the maximum weight recorded is <br />approximately 21 kg (46 lbs). In the Mississippi River the maximum weight <br />recorded is approximately 12 kg (26 lbs). <br />Historical Distribution and Abundance: <br />The historic range of pallid sturgeon as described by Bailey and Cross (1954) <br />encompassed the middle and lower Mississippi River, the Missouri River, and <br />the lower reaches of the Platte, Kansas, and Yellowstone Rivers (Figure 2). <br />The pallid sturgeon was not recognized as a species until 1905, therefore <br />little is known concerning its early abundance and distribution (Pflieger <br />1975), but available information suggests a probable decline since the species <br />was described. Forbes and Richardson (1905) and Bailey and Cross (1954) <br />indicated that the species was always uncommon. Of the 250 pallid sturgeon <br />reported by Bailey and Cross (1954), approximately 76 percent were collected <br />from the Missouri River in Montana and the Dakotas; most were collected in the <br />upper ends of the five main stem reservoirs as they were filling. <br />At the time of their original description, pallid sturgeon composed 1 in 500 <br />river sturgeon captured in the Mississippi River at Grafton, Illinois (Forbes <br />and Richardson 1905). Pallid sturgeon were more abundant in the lower <br />Missouri River near West Alton, Missouri, where they composed one -fifth of the <br />river sturgeon captured (Forbes and Richardson 1905). Bailey and Cross (1954) <br />provided additional information on the proportions of pallid sturgeon in the <br />total commercial catch of river sturgeon from various parts of the species' <br />range as follows: Kansas River at Lawrence, Kansas (8 percent); Missouri <br />River in South Dakota, 3 of 62 specimens (5 percent); and Mississippi River at <br />New Orleans, 3 of 4 specimens (75 percent). Fisher (1962) recorded 4 of 13 <br />river sturgeons (31 percent) from the Missouri River in Missouri as pallid <br />sturgeon. Comparable commercial catch records are not available for the upper <br />river reaches where commercial fishing was light or nonexistent. <br />3 <br />