FISHY
HISTORY
Fish
have an interesting evolutionary history that dates back to
about 450 million years ago. Fish, such as sturgeon, and paddlefish,
evolved from a common ancestor that split from the evolutionary
tree in Triassic Period, about 200 million years ago.
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FISH
BITES
Fish
are an incredibly ancient, preceding dinosaurs and,
of course, human beings. In fact, fish started the evolutionary
process of life as we know it! Life on terra firma (earth)
began with the first gilled, and limbed, aquatic creatures,
as they crawled out of the ancient seas, and onto land
about 360 million years ago. |
The
Triassic Period saw a divergence of other species from their
evolutionary line. Fish, such as telosts (ray finned bony
fishes) , began forming new species, eventually turning
into the modern fish species we see today (e.g. Salmonids).
Currently, the sturgeons’ ancestor is unknown, but it is speculated
to be a member of the Triassic “Ray - finned, boney
fish.”
DEFINITION:
Ray - finned, bony fish have an internal skeleton to
their fins. The fin skeleton is located entirely within the
body wall, with exception of the fin rays, which project out
ward.
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FISH
BITES
Bobasatrania
canadensis ,
a Triassic ray - finned, boney fish, fossils have been
found near Wapiti Lake , British Columbia . This fish
was about one meter in length, and had large crushing
teeth to eat hard shelled animals, such as lobster.
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Why
are fish fossils found in the mountains of British Columbia
?
Answer:
During the Triassic Period, British Columbia was almost
entirely underwater. In fact, the West coast edge of North
America extended from Dawson Creek to Calgary.
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FISH
BITES
The White
Sturgeon’s scientific name, Acipenser transmontanus
means:
Acipenser
– Old world name meaning
sturgeon
Transmontanus
- Meaning beyond the mountains.
“Sturgeon
from beyond the mountains” |
FRASER
AND COLUMBIA WHITE STURGEON
DNA
The
Fraser and Columbia rivers were once joined together before
the last ice age. After the ice age, mountains formed, separating
the two rivers and their fish from intermixing. The white
sturgeon populations of the Fraser and Columbia are cousins.
THE
WHITE STURGEON
White
Sturgeon of the Fraser River were utilized by lower and upper
Fraser First Nations for many thousands of years. First Nations
used sturgeons as a food source, and for ceremonial purposes.
As Simon Fraser traveled on the Fraser River in 1808, First
Nation guides brought him sturgeon meat for food.
Years later,
European settlers took note of this giant fish in the Fraser
River . In 1836, the scientific community investigated reports
of the giant fish found west of the Rocky Mountains (the
sturgeon beyond the mountains) . The White Sturgeon was
confirmed by Sir John Richardson, the first European to identify
and “catalogue” this fish as Acipenser transmontanus
or the White Sturgeon, a species separate from those
sturgeons east of the Rockies. |
