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Abstract
Sacrificing sturgeons for diet analyses is not a feasible option because many sturgeon species are protected by laws or management plans that prohibit direct taking. Consequently, basic food habits data are limited for many populations of Atlantic sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus and shortnose sturgeon A. brevirostrum. A safe and effective method for removing stomach contents from live sturgeons is needed to address this data gap. I describe a method for safely flushing stomach contents from live sturgeons that addresses problems previously encountered with gastric lavage on these fishes. The system was used during the summer of 1996 to obtain stomach contents from shortnose sturgeon and juvenile Atlantic sturgeon in the Hudson River estuary. Identifiable prey items were retrieved from 91% (21 of 23) of juvenile Atlantic sturgeon and 81% (39 of 48) of shortnose sturgeon. More research is needed to test the efficiency of this procedure for removing prey items from sturgeons.