IOWA — A federally endangered species of fish has been collected for the first time from the Des Moines River.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources said two pallid sturgeon were discovered in the lower Des Moines River as part of its annual spring sturgeon sampling effort. While sampling has been done since 2014, only shovelnose and an occasional lake sturgeon have been collected until this year.

Joe Larscheid, chief of the Iowa DNR’s Fisheries Bureau, said, “To find a pallid sturgeon was a surprise, but to find a second one in nearly the same spot a week later was truly remarkable.”

The DNR said pallid sturgeon are incredibly rare and were placed on the federal endangered species list in 1990. The population decline in the Missouri and lower Mississippi River basins has been attributed to habitat loss and fragmentation caused by dams that block spawning adults from migrating and reduce the water flow needed for larval development.

The pallid sturgeon is a slow-growing species, with females not spawning until they are 15-20 years old.

Pallid sturgeon have never been officially documented before in the Des Moines River, though recovery efforts for the species have been attempted in the Missouri River.

“Nearly nine out of ten pallid sturgeon collected from the Iowa section of the Missouri River were originally stocked from a hatchery. Finding two naturally reproduced individuals is a game changer for how the Iowa DNR and its partners manage the Des Moines River. This is a positive milestone, but does not mean the species has recovered,” Iowa DNR fisheries biologist Mark Flammang said.

He said the wild population is not self-sustaining.

If an angler in Iowa catches a sturgeon, identifying the type is important because only shovelnose sturgeon can be kept in Iowa per the state’s fishing regulations. The DNR said, “Pallid sturgeon have a smooth belly; its outer barbels are twice as long as the inner barbels; and the base of barbels is ‘U’ shaped, with inner two set out in front.”

Learn more about the state’s fishing regulations on the Iowa DNR’s website.