They are anadromous meaning that they live in salt water and freshwater habitats. It has been shown that gulf sturgeons are homestream spawners, which basically means that they will return to the rivers where they were born in order to carry out their own reproduction. Ideal river habitats for gulf sturgeons are long, spring-fed free-flowing rivers, with steep banks and a solid bottom where the water temperature averages between 60 - 72° F. The gulf sturgeons will migrate from the gulf and up-river normally between February and April, where they spend 7 months spawning before returning to estuariane or gulf waters between September and November.
While the gulf sturgeons are living in the freshwater rivers, they lose a lot of weight because they rarely ever eat. They will regain their weight and more when they return to the brackish or marine waters, where they will feed and conserve energy for their next trip up-river to reproduce. During this time they live in areas with shallow beds of seagrass and muddy or sandy bottoms. In this area, they will feed on a variety of benthic-dwelling organisms including mollusks, grass shrimp, insect larvae, marine worms, isopods and amphipods.
A gulf sturgeon’s head contains a long snout with 4 tactile barbels located on the chin in front of the mouth, to detect or sense their prey. Their mouth’s do not have any teeth so they obtain their food by acting like a vacuum and sucking up animals along sea floor and at times, sucking them up from their burrows in the sand.
[Image taken by Kevin Lee Mclver/USFWS]
Gulf sturgeons are listed as ‘threatened’ on the 
Endangered Species due to several factors such as habitat destruction/loss, dams preventing them access to their migration routes up-river to spawn, and water contamination produced by the agriculture and industrial industry. They were once hunted for their meat but especially as a source of caviar. The recent droughts, due to weather changes and possibly global warming have led to a decrease in flowing groundwater, limiting the number of suitable habitats for the gulf sturgeon.
[Image provided byhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk ]
Unintentionally, and seeming almost justifiable, the gulf sturgeon have gained a reputation as 
‘flying’ fish, in which they are literally leaping out of the water. However, due to their large size and body armor, several injuries have been reported and include knocking people unconscious, fractured spine, collapsed lung, broken ribs, ruptured spleen and facial wounds that required plastic surgery. One report states that a man lost four fingers with only three being reattached. On an almost comical note, two men sustained injuries after they drove their boat into a bridge in order to avoid a leaping gulf sturgeon. In order to prevent these incidents, the Florida Fish and Wildlife are providing people with information about these animals and the potential injuries from the ‘flying’ gulf sturgeon.
[Image provided byhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk]
REFERENCES:
Gulf Sturgeon. http://www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/freshwater/fish/sturgeon/gulf/. Downloaded 7/15/08.
Gulf Coast Sturgeon. http://www.fws.gov/southeast/welaka/gulfcoaststurgeon.html. Downloaded 7/15/08.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. http://www.fws.gov/panamacity/programs/gulfsturg-recov.html Downloaded 7/15/08.
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. Downloaded 7/15/08. http://myfwc.com/viewing/species/gulfsturgeon.htm.
Goddard, Jackie. Florida's flying fish could know you out cold. Updated 6/18/07. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1554800/Florida%27s-flying-fish-can-knock-you-out-cold.html#continue Downloaded 7/15/08.
