Sturgeon is the
common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...
for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...
, and are descended from other, earlier
acipenseriform fish, which date back to the
Early Jurassic
The Early Jurassic Epoch (geology), Epoch (in chronostratigraphy corresponding to the Lower Jurassic series (stratigraphy), Series) is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic Period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassic-J ...
period, some 174 to 201 million years ago. They are one of two living families of the Acipenseriformes alongside
paddlefish
Paddlefish (family Polyodontidae) are a family of ray-finned fish belonging to order Acipenseriformes, and one of two living groups of the order alongside sturgeons (Acipenseridae). They are distinguished from other fish by their titular elongla ...
(Polyodontidae). The family is grouped into four genera: ''
Acipenser
''Acipenser'' is a genus of sturgeons. With 17 living species (others are only known from fossil remains), it is the largest genus in the order Acipenseriformes. The genus is paraphyletic, containing all sturgeons that do not belong to ''Huso'', ' ...
'' (which is
paraphyletic
In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...
, containing many distantly related sturgeon species), ''
Huso
''Huso'' is a genus of large sturgeons from Eurasia. It contains two species, both of which are critically endangered:
*''Huso dauricus'' (Georgi, 1775) (kaluga)
*''Huso huso'' (Linnaeus, 1758) (beluga)
Recent data indicate a polyphyletic orig ...
'', ''
Scaphirhynchus
''Scaphirhynchus'' is a genus of sturgeons native to the United States of America. All species in this genus are considered to be threatened. The pallid sturgeon is Endangered and the Alabama sturgeon is Critically Endangered.
Distribution
Memb ...
,'' and ''
Pseudoscaphirhynchus
''Pseudoscaphirhynchus'' is a genus of relatively small, highly threatened sturgeons that are restricted to the Aral Sea system (although extirpated from the Aral Sea itself), including the Amu Darya and Syr Darya river basins, in Central Asia.
...
''. Two species (''
A. naccarii'' and ''
A. dabryanus'') may be
extinct in the wild
A species that is extinct in the wild (EW) is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as known only by living members kept in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its historic range due ...
, and one (''
P. fedtschenkoi'') may be entirely extinct.
Sturgeons are native to subtropical, temperate and sub-Arctic rivers, lakes and coastlines of
Eurasia
Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...
and
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
.
Sturgeons are long-lived, late-maturing fishes with distinctive characteristics, such as a
heterocercal caudal fin similar to those of
shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimo ...
s, and an elongated, spindle-like body that is smooth-skinned, scaleless, and armored with five lateral rows of bony plates called
scutes
A scute or scutum (Latin: ''scutum''; plural: ''scuta'' "shield") is a bony external plate or scale overlaid with horn, as on the shell of a turtle, the skin of crocodilians, and the feet of birds. The term is also used to describe the anterior po ...
. Several species can grow quite large, typically ranging in length. The largest sturgeon on record was a
beluga The beluga whale (/bɪˈluːɡə/) (Delphinapterus leucas) is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. It is one of two members of the family Monodontidae, along with the narwhal, and the only member of the genus Delphinapterus. It is also known as the wh ...
female captured in the
Volga Delta
The Volga Delta is the largest river delta in Europe, and occurs where Europe's largest river system, the Volga River, drains into the Caspian Sea in Russia's Astrakhan Oblast, north-east of the republic of Kalmykia. The delta is located in the ...
in 1827, measuring long and weighing . Most sturgeons are
anadromous
Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousan ...
bottom-feeders, which migrate upstream to spawn, but spend most of their lives feeding in
river delta
A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition (geology), deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, res ...
s and
estuaries
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
. Some species inhabit freshwater environments exclusively, while others primarily inhabit marine environments near
coastal
The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...
areas, and are known to venture into open ocean.
Several species of sturgeon are harvested for their
roe
Roe ( ) or hard roe is the fully ripe internal egg masses in the ovaries, or the released external egg masses, of fish and certain marine animals such as shrimp, scallop, sea urchins and squid. As a seafood, roe is used both as a cooking, coo ...
, which is processed into the
luxury food caviar
Caviar (also known as caviare; from fa, خاویار, khâvyâr, egg-bearing) is a food consisting of salt-cured roe of the family Acipenseridae. Caviar is considered a delicacy and is eaten as a garnish or a spread. Traditionally, the ter ...
. This has led to serious
overexploitation
Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term app ...
, which combined with other conservation threats, has brought most of the species to
critically endangered status, at the edge of
extinction
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
.
Evolution
Fossil history
Acipenseriform
Acipenseriformes is an order (biology), order of basal (phylogenetics), basal Actinopterygii, ray-finned fishes that includes living and fossil sturgeons and paddlefishes (Acipenseroidei), as well as the extinct family (biology), families C ...
fishes appeared in the fossil record some 174 to 201 million years ago, during the
Early Jurassic
The Early Jurassic Epoch (geology), Epoch (in chronostratigraphy corresponding to the Lower Jurassic series (stratigraphy), Series) is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic Period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassic-J ...
, making them some of the earliest extant
actinopterygian
Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species.
The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or ho ...
fishes.
True sturgeons appear in the fossil record during the Upper
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
, with amongst the oldest known remains being a partial skull from the
Cenomanian
The Cenomanian is, in the ICS' geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or the lowest stage of the Upper Cretaceous Series. An age is a unit of geochronology; it is a unit of time; the stage is a unit in the s ...
(100-94 million years ago) of Alberta, Canada. In that time, sturgeons have undergone remarkably little
morphological change, indicating their evolution has been exceptionally slow and earning them informal status as
living fossils
A living fossil is an extant taxon that cosmetically resembles related species known only from the fossil record. To be considered a living fossil, the fossil species must be old relative to the time of origin of the extant clade. Living fossi ...
.
This is explained in part by the long generation interval, tolerance for wide ranges of
temperature
Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer.
Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied o ...
and
salinity
Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal ...
, lack of
predators
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...
due to size and bony plated armor, or scutes, and the abundance of prey items in the benthic environment. They do, however, still share several primitive characteristics, such as heterocercal tail, reduced squamation, more fin rays than supporting bony elements, and unique jaw suspension.
Phylogeny and taxonomy
Despite the existence of a
fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
record, full classification and
phylogeny
A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spec ...
of the sturgeon species has been difficult to determine, in part due to the high individual and
ontogenic
Ontogeny (also ontogenesis) is the origination and development of an organism (both physical and psychological, e.g., moral development), usually from the time of fertilization of the egg to adult. The term can also be used to refer to the stu ...
variation, including geographical
clines Clines is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Gene Clines (1946–2022), American baseball player and coach
*Hoyt Franklin Clines (1956–1994), American murderer
*Peter Clines (born 1969), American author and novelist
*Thomas G. C ...
in certain features, such as rostrum shape, number of scutes, and body length. A further confounding factor is the peculiar ability of sturgeons to produce reproductively viable
hybrids, even between species assigned to different
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
. While ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) have a long evolutionary history culminating in the most familiar fishes, past adaptive
evolutionary radiation
An evolutionary radiation is an increase in taxonomic diversity that is caused by elevated rates of speciation, that may or may not be associated with an increase in morphological disparity. Radiations may affect one clade or many, and be rapid ...
s have left only a few survivors, such as sturgeons and
gar
Gars are members of the family Lepisosteidae, which are the only surviving members of the Ginglymodi, an ancient holosteian group of ray-finned fish, which first appeared during the Triassic, over 240 million years ago. Gars comprise seven livin ...
s.
The wide range of the acipenserids and their endangered status have made collection of systematic materials difficult. The factors have led researchers in the past to identify over 40 additional species that were rejected by later scientists.
Whether the species in the ''Acipenser'' and ''Huso'' genera are
monophyletic
In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...
(descended from one ancestor) or
paraphyletic
In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...
(descended from many ancestors) is still unclear, though the morphologically motivated division between these two genera clearly is not supported by the genetic evidence. An effort is ongoing to resolve the taxonomic confusion using a continuing synthesis of systematic data and
molecular techniques.
The phylogeny of Acipenseridae, as in the
cladogram
A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to d ...
, shows that they evolved from the
bony fishes
Osteichthyes (), popularly referred to as the bony fish, is a diverse superclass of fish that have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the Chondrichthyes, which have skeletons primarily composed of cartilage ...
.
Approximate dates are from Near ''et al.'', 2012.
File:Young lake sturgeon.jpg, A young lake sturgeon (''Acipenser fulvescens'')
File:Hausen (Huso huso L.)editDOB.JPG, Great sturgeon or beluga (''Huso huso'') feeding on another fish
File:Pallid sturgeon activity with syphoning.webmhd.webm, Pallid sturgeon (''Scaphirhynchus albus'') showing siphoning feeding behaviour
File:Beluga sturgeon in aquarium.webm, thumbtime=0:01, Beluga sturgeon in an aquarium.
In currently accepted
taxonomy
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
, the class
Actinopterygii
Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species.
The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...
and the order
Acipenseriformes
Acipenseriformes is an order of basal ray-finned fishes that includes living and fossil sturgeons and paddlefishes (Acipenseroidei), as well as the extinct families Chondrosteidae and Peipiaosteidae. They are the second earliest div ...
are both
clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...
s. The family Acipenseridae is subdivided into 2 subfamilies;
Acipenserinae
Sturgeon is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the Late Cretaceous, and are descended from other, earlier acipenseriform fish, which date back to the Early ...
, including the genera ''
Acipenser
''Acipenser'' is a genus of sturgeons. With 17 living species (others are only known from fossil remains), it is the largest genus in the order Acipenseriformes. The genus is paraphyletic, containing all sturgeons that do not belong to ''Huso'', ' ...
'' and ''
Huso
''Huso'' is a genus of large sturgeons from Eurasia. It contains two species, both of which are critically endangered:
*''Huso dauricus'' (Georgi, 1775) (kaluga)
*''Huso huso'' (Linnaeus, 1758) (beluga)
Recent data indicate a polyphyletic orig ...
'', and
Scaphirhynchinae
Sturgeon is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the Late Cretaceous, and are descended from other, earlier acipenseriform fish, which date back to the Early ...
, including the genera ''
Scaphirhynchus
''Scaphirhynchus'' is a genus of sturgeons native to the United States of America. All species in this genus are considered to be threatened. The pallid sturgeon is Endangered and the Alabama sturgeon is Critically Endangered.
Distribution
Memb ...
'' and ''
Pseudoscaphirhynchus
''Pseudoscaphirhynchus'' is a genus of relatively small, highly threatened sturgeons that are restricted to the Aral Sea system (although extirpated from the Aral Sea itself), including the Amu Darya and Syr Darya river basins, in Central Asia.
...
''.
However, multiple recent studies have recovered this arrangement as
paraphyletic
In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...
, instead finding ''
A. oxyrhinchus'' and ''
A. sturio'' to form the most
basal clade among sturgeons, and all other species being in a separate clade, with the various other species of ''Acipenser'', ''Scaphirhynchus'', ''Pseudoscaphirhynchus'', and ''Huso'' to have varying levels of relationship with one another.
A potential taxonomy of Acipenseridae is shown here, based on Luo ''et al''. 2019, Nedoluzhko ''et al''. 2020, and Shen ''et al.'' 2020.
Note the paraphyletic relationships among genera:
The exact placement of ''Scaphirhynchus'' varies depending on the study and the methods used, with some placing it within the second-most basal clade comprising primarily Pacific species (shown above), whereas others place it in its own clade that is more derived than the secondmost basal clade but less derived than the most derived Atlantic and Central Asian clade. No studies have yet delineated a relationship between it and ''Pseudoscaphirhynchus''. In addition, the exact relationships of the members of the most
derived
Derive may refer to:
* Derive (computer algebra system), a commercial system made by Texas Instruments
* ''Dérive'' (magazine), an Austrian science magazine on urbanism
*Dérive, a psychogeographical concept
See also
*
*Derivation (disambiguatio ...
, primarily Atlantic clade vary, although most analyses at least find all the species in it to form a monophyletic clade. The placement of ''A. sinensis'' also varies by the study, with some placing it as the only Pacific member of the otherwise Atlantic-based most-derived clade, whereas others place it with the rest of the Pacific sturgeons as a sister to ''A. dabryanus''.
Species
The family contains 8 extinct fossil species and 28 extant species/subspecies (include 1 species of ''Sterlet'' and 2 species of living fossils), in 4 genera. This list uses the original classification scheme:
Family
Acipenseridae
Sturgeon is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the Late Cretaceous, and are descended from other, earlier acipenseriform fish, which date back to the Early ...
* Genus ''
Acipenser
''Acipenser'' is a genus of sturgeons. With 17 living species (others are only known from fossil remains), it is the largest genus in the order Acipenseriformes. The genus is paraphyletic, containing all sturgeons that do not belong to ''Huso'', ' ...
''
Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
, 1758
** †''
Acipenser albertensis
''Acipenser'' is a genus of sturgeons. With 17 living species (others are only known from fossil remains), it is the largest genus in the order Acipenseriformes. The genus is paraphyletic, containing all sturgeons that do not belong to ''Huso'', ' ...
''
Lambe 1902 >
** ''
Acipenser baerii
The Siberian sturgeon (''Acipenser baerii'') is a species of sturgeon in the family Acipenseridae. It is most present in all of the major Siberian river basins that drain northward into the Kara, Laptev and East Siberian Seas, including the O ...
''
J. F. Brandt, 1869 (
Siberian sturgeon
The Siberian sturgeon (''Acipenser baerii'') is a species of sturgeon in the family Acipenseridae. It is most present in all of the major Siberian river basins that drain northward into the Kara, Laptev and East Siberian Seas, including the Ob ...
)
*** ''
Acipenser baerii baicalensis
The Siberian sturgeon (''Acipenser baerii'') is a species of sturgeon in the family Acipenseridae. It is most present in all of the major Siberian river basins that drain northward into the Kara, Laptev and East Siberian Seas, including the ...
''
A. M. Nikolskii, 1896 (
Baikal sturgeon
The Siberian sturgeon (''Acipenser baerii'') is a species of sturgeon in the family Acipenseridae. It is most present in all of the major Siberian river basins that drain northward into the Kara, Laptev and East Siberian Seas, including the O ...
)
*** ''
Acipenser baerii stenorrhynchus
''Acipenser'' is a genus of sturgeons. With 17 living species (others are only known from fossil remains), it is the largest genus in the order Acipenseriformes. The genus is paraphyletic, containing all sturgeons that do not belong to ''Huso'', ' ...
''
A. M. Nikolskii, 1896
** ''
Acipenser brevirostrum
The shortnose sturgeon (''Acipenser brevirostrum'') is a small and endangered species of North American sturgeon. The earliest remains of the species are from the Late Cretaceous Period, over 70 million years ago.National Oceanic and Atmospheri ...
''
Lesueur, 1818 (
Shortnose sturgeon
The shortnose sturgeon (''Acipenser brevirostrum'') is a small and endangered species of North American sturgeon. The earliest remains of the species are from the Late Cretaceous Period, over 70 million years ago.National Oceanic and Atmospher ...
)
** ''
Acipenser dabryanus
Dabry's sturgeon (''Acipenser dabryanus''), also known as the Yangtze sturgeon, Chiangjiang sturgeon and river sturgeon, is a species of fish in the sturgeon family, Acipenseridae.Zhuang, P., et al. (1997)Biology and life history of Dabry's stu ...
''
A. H. A. Duméril, 1869 (
Yangtze sturgeon
Dabry's sturgeon (''Acipenser dabryanus''), also known as the Yangtze sturgeon, Chiangjiang sturgeon and river sturgeon, is a species of fish in the sturgeon family, Acipenseridae.Zhuang, P., et al. (1997)Biology and life history of Dabry's s ...
)
** †''
Acipenser cruciferus
''Acipenser'' is a genus of sturgeons. With 17 living species (others are only known from fossil remains), it is the largest genus in the order Acipenseriformes. The genus is paraphyletic, containing all sturgeons that do not belong to ''Huso'', ' ...
''
(Cope 1876)
** †''
Acipenser eruciferus
''Acipenser'' is a genus of sturgeons. With 17 living species (others are only known from fossil remains), it is the largest genus in the order Acipenseriformes. The genus is paraphyletic, containing all sturgeons that do not belong to ''Huso'', ' ...
''
Cope 1876
** ''
Acipenser fulvescens
The lake sturgeon (''Acipenser fulvescens''), also known as the rock sturgeon, is a North American temperate freshwater fish, one of about 25 species of sturgeon. Like other sturgeons, this species is a bottom feeder with evolutionarily basal t ...
''
Rafinesque
Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (; October 22, 1783September 18, 1840) was a French 19th-century polymath born near Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire and self-educated in France. He traveled as a young man in the United States, ultimat ...
, 1817 (
Lake sturgeon
The lake sturgeon (''Acipenser fulvescens''), also known as the rock sturgeon, is a North American temperate freshwater fish, one of about 25 species of sturgeon. Like other sturgeons, this species is a bottom feeder with evolutionarily basal t ...
)
** †''
Acipenser gigantissimus
''Acipenser'' is a genus of sturgeons. With 17 living species (others are only known from fossil remains), it is the largest genus in the order Acipenseriformes. The genus is paraphyletic, containing all sturgeons that do not belong to ''Huso'', ' ...
''
Nessov 1997
** ''
Acipenser gueldenstaedtii
The Russian sturgeon (''Acipenser gueldenstaedtii''), also known as the diamond sturgeon or Danube sturgeon, is a species of fish in the family Acipenseridae. It is found in Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Romania, Russia, Turke ...
''
J. F. Brandt & Ratzeburg
Ratzeburg (; Low German: ''Ratzborg'') is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by four lakes—the resulting isthmuses between the lakes form the access lanes to the town. Ratzeburg is the capital of the district Herzogtum Lau ...
, 1833 (
Russian sturgeon
The Russian sturgeon (''Acipenser gueldenstaedtii''), also known as the diamond sturgeon or Danube sturgeon, is a species of fish in the family Acipenseridae. It is found in Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Romania, Russia, Turkey ...
)
** ''
Acipenser medirostris
The green sturgeon (''Acipenser medirostris'') is a species of sturgeon native to the northern Pacific Ocean, from China and Russia to Canada and the United States.
Description
Sturgeons are among the largest and most ancient of ray fin ...
''
Ayres, 1854 (
Green sturgeon
The green sturgeon (''Acipenser medirostris'') is a species of sturgeon native to the northern Pacific Ocean, from China and Russia to Canada and the United States.
Description
Sturgeons are among the largest and most ancient of ray finn ...
)
** ''
Acipenser mikadoi
The Sakhalin sturgeon (''Acipenser mikadoi'') is a species of fish in the family Acipenseridae. It is found in Japan and Russia.
Environment
The Sakhalin sturgeon is known to be found in either a marine or freshwater environment within demersa ...
''
Hilgendorf, 1892 (
Sakhalin sturgeon
The Sakhalin sturgeon (''Acipenser mikadoi'') is a species of fish in the family Acipenseridae. It is found in Japan and Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North ...
)
** †''
Acipenser molassicus
''Acipenser'' is a genus of sturgeons. With 17 living species (others are only known from fossil remains), it is the largest genus in the order Acipenseriformes. The genus is paraphyletic, containing all sturgeons that do not belong to ''Huso'', ...
''
Probst 1882
** ''
Acipenser naccarii
The Adriatic sturgeon (''Acipenser naccarii'') is a species of fish in the family Acipenseridae. It is native to the Adriatic Sea and large rivers which flow in it of Albania, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slove ...
''
Bonaparte, 1836 (
Adriatic sturgeon
The Adriatic sturgeon (''Acipenser naccarii'') is a species of fish in the family Acipenseridae. It is native to the Adriatic Sea and large rivers which flow in it of Albania, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sloven ...
)
** ''
Acipenser nudiventris
The ship sturgeon, also known as the fringebarbel sturgeon, ship sturgeon, spiny sturgeon, or thorn sturgeon (''Acipenser nudiventris''), is a species of fish in the family Acipenseridae. These fish are typically found along the benthos of shal ...
''
Lovetsky, 1828 (
Fringebarbel sturgeon
The ship sturgeon, also known as the fringebarbel sturgeon, ship sturgeon, spiny sturgeon, or thorn sturgeon (''Acipenser nudiventris''), is a species of fish in the family Acipenseridae. These fish are typically found along the benthos of shall ...
)
** †''
Acipenser ornatus
''Acipenser'' is a genus of sturgeons. With 17 living species (others are only known from fossil remains), it is the largest genus in the order Acipenseriformes. The genus is paraphyletic, containing all sturgeons that do not belong to ''Huso'', ...
''
Leidy 1873
** ''
Acipenser oxyrinchus
''Acipenser oxyrinchus'' is a species of sturgeon.
Information
''Acipenser oxyrinchus'' is a species with two subspecies:
* Atlantic sturgeon, ''Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus'' Mitchill 1815.
* Gulf sturgeon, ''Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi'' V ...
''
Mitchill, 1815
*** ''
Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi
The Gulf sturgeon (''Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi'') is a subspecies of sturgeon that lives in the Gulf of Mexico and some rivers draining into it. The Gulf sturgeon was first recognized as a separate subspecies in 1955. The nominate subspe ...
''
Vladykov, 1955 (
Gulf sturgeon
The Gulf sturgeon (''Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi'') is a subspecies of sturgeon that lives in the Gulf of Mexico and some rivers draining into it. The Gulf sturgeon was first recognized as a separate subspecies in 1955. The nominate subspe ...
)
*** ''
Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus
The Atlantic sturgeon (''Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus'') is a member of the family Acipenseridae and along with other sturgeon it is sometimes considered a living fossil. The Atlantic sturgeon is one of two subspecies of '' A. oxyrinchus'', ...
''
Mitchill, 1815 (
Atlantic sturgeon
The Atlantic sturgeon (''Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus'') is a member of the family Acipenseridae and along with other sturgeon it is sometimes considered a living fossil. The Atlantic sturgeon is one of two subspecies of '' A. oxyrinchus'', ...
)
** ''
Acipenser persicus
The Persian sturgeon (''Acipenser persicus'') is a species of fish in the family Acipenseridae. It is found in the Caspian Sea and to a lesser extent the Black Sea and ascends certain rivers to spawn, mainly the Volga, Kura, Araks and Ural Rive ...
''
Borodin
Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin ( rus, link=no, Александр Порфирьевич Бородин, Aleksandr Porfir’yevich Borodin , p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr pɐrˈfʲi rʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bərɐˈdʲin, a=RU-Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin.ogg, ...
, 1897 (
Persian sturgeon
The Persian sturgeon (''Acipenser persicus'') is a species of fish in the family Acipenseridae. It is found in the Caspian Sea and to a lesser extent the Black Sea and ascends certain rivers to spawn, mainly the Volga, Kura, Araks and Ural Rive ...
)
** ''
Acipenser ruthenus
The sterlet (''Acipenser ruthenus'') is a relatively small species of sturgeon from Eurasia native to large rivers that flow into the Black Sea, Azov Sea, and Caspian Sea, as well as rivers in Siberia as far east as Yenisei. Populations migrat ...
''
Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
, 1758
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the sta ...
(
Sterlet
The sterlet (''Acipenser ruthenus'') is a relatively small species of sturgeon from Eurasia native to large rivers that flow into the Black Sea, Azov Sea, and Caspian Sea, as well as rivers in Siberia as far east as Yenisei. Populations migratin ...
)
** ''
Acipenser schrenckii
The Japanese sturgeon, or Amur sturgeon (''Acipenser schrenckii'') is a species of fish in the family Acipenseridae found in the Amur River basin in China and Russia. Claims of its presence in the Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is the ma ...
''
J. F. Brandt, 1869 (
Japanese sturgeon
The Japanese sturgeon, or Amur sturgeon (''Acipenser schrenckii'') is a species of fish in the family Acipenseridae found in the Amur River basin in China and Russia. Claims of its presence in the Sea of Japan need confirmation. The species has ...
)
** ''
Acipenser sinensis
The Chinese sturgeon (''Acipenser sinensis''; ) is a critically endangered member of the family Acipenseridae in the order Acipenseriformes. Historically, this anadromous fish was found in China, Japan, and the Korean Peninsula, but it has b ...
''
J. E. Gray
John Edward Gray, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoology, zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray ...
, 1835 (
Chinese sturgeon
The Chinese sturgeon (''Acipenser sinensis''; ) is a critically endangered member of the family Acipenseridae in the order Acipenseriformes. Historically, this anadromous fish was found in China, Japan, and the Korean Peninsula, but it has b ...
)
** ''
Acipenser stellatus
The starry sturgeon (''Acipenser stellatus'') also known as stellate sturgeon or sevruga (Drakul, , and tr, Uzun Burun, lit=long nosed), is a species of sturgeon. It is native to the Black, Azov, Caspian and Aegean sea basins, but it has bee ...
''
Pallas
Pallas may refer to:
Astronomy
* 2 Pallas asteroid
** Pallas family, a group of asteroids that includes 2 Pallas
* Pallas (crater), a crater on Earth's moon
Mythology
* Pallas (Giant), a son of Uranus and Gaia, killed and flayed by Athena
* Pall ...
, 1771 (
Starry sturgeon
The starry sturgeon (''Acipenser stellatus'') also known as stellate sturgeon or sevruga (Drakul, , and tr, Uzun Burun, lit=long nosed), is a species of sturgeon. It is native to the Black, Azov, Caspian and Aegean sea basins, but it has bee ...
)
** ''
Acipenser sturio
The European sea sturgeon (''Acipenser sturio''), also known as the Atlantic sturgeon or common sturgeon, is a species of sturgeon native to Europe. It was formerly abundant, being found in coastal habitats all over Europe. It is anadromous and b ...
''
Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
, 1758
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the sta ...
(
European sea sturgeon
The European sea sturgeon (''Acipenser sturio''), also known as the Atlantic sturgeon or common sturgeon, is a species of sturgeon native to Europe. It was formerly abundant, being found in coastal habitats all over Europe. It is anadromous and b ...
)
** †''
Acipenser toliapicus
''Acipenser'' is a genus of sturgeons. With 17 living species (others are only known from fossil remains), it is the largest genus in the order Acipenseriformes. The genus is paraphyletic, containing all sturgeons that do not belong to ''Huso'', ' ...
''
Agassiz 1844 ex Woodward 1889
** ''
Acipenser transmontanus
White sturgeon (''Acipenser transmontanus'') is a species of sturgeon in the family Acipenseridae of the order Acipenseriformes. They are an anadromous fish species ranging in the Eastern Pacific; from the Gulf of Alaska to Monterey, California. ...
''
J. Richardson, 1836 (
White sturgeon
White sturgeon (''Acipenser transmontanus'') is a species of sturgeon in the family Acipenseridae of the order Acipenseriformes. They are an anadromous fish species ranging in the Eastern Pacific; from the Gulf of Alaska to Monterey, Californ ...
)
** †''
Acipenser tuberculosus
''Acipenser'' is a genus of sturgeons. With 17 living species (others are only known from fossil remains), it is the largest genus in the order Acipenseriformes. The genus is paraphyletic, containing all sturgeons that do not belong to ''Huso'', ' ...
''
Probst 1882
* Genus ''
Huso
''Huso'' is a genus of large sturgeons from Eurasia. It contains two species, both of which are critically endangered:
*''Huso dauricus'' (Georgi, 1775) (kaluga)
*''Huso huso'' (Linnaeus, 1758) (beluga)
Recent data indicate a polyphyletic orig ...
''
J. F. Brandt & Ratzeburg
Ratzeburg (; Low German: ''Ratzborg'') is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by four lakes—the resulting isthmuses between the lakes form the access lanes to the town. Ratzeburg is the capital of the district Herzogtum Lau ...
, 1833
** ''
Huso dauricus
The kaluga (''Huso dauricus''), also known as the river beluga, is a large predatory sturgeon found in the Amur River basin. With a maximum size of at least 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) and 5.6 m (18.6 ft), the kaluga is one of the ...
''
(Georgi Georgi may refer to:
* Georgi (given name)
* Georgi (surname)
See also
*Georgy (disambiguation)
*Georgii (disambiguation) Georgii may refer to:
;Given name
*Georgii Zantaraia (born 1987), Ukrainian judoka of Georgian origin
*Georgii Karpechenko ( ...
, 1775) (
kaluga
Kaluga ( rus, Калу́га, p=kɐˈɫuɡə), a city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast in Russia, stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Population:
Kaluga's most famous resident, the space travel pioneer Konstantin Tsiol ...
)
** ''
Huso huso
The beluga (), also known as the beluga sturgeon or great sturgeon (''Huso huso''), is a species of anadromous fish in the sturgeon family (Acipenseridae) of order Acipenseriformes. It is found primarily in the Caspian and Black Sea basins, an ...
''
(Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
, 1758
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the sta ...
) (
beluga The beluga whale (/bɪˈluːɡə/) (Delphinapterus leucas) is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. It is one of two members of the family Monodontidae, along with the narwhal, and the only member of the genus Delphinapterus. It is also known as the wh ...
)
* Genus ''
Scaphirhynchus
''Scaphirhynchus'' is a genus of sturgeons native to the United States of America. All species in this genus are considered to be threatened. The pallid sturgeon is Endangered and the Alabama sturgeon is Critically Endangered.
Distribution
Memb ...
''
Heckel, 1835 (
native to North America
Native may refer to:
People
* Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth
* Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory
** Native Americans (disambiguation)
In arts and entertai ...
)
** ''
Scaphirhynchus albus
The pallid sturgeon (''Scaphirhynchus albus'') is an endangered species of ray-finned fish, endemic to the waters of the Missouri and lower Mississippi river basins of the United States. It may have even reached the St. Croix River before co ...
''
(Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
& R. E. Richardson, 1905) (
Pallid sturgeon
The pallid sturgeon (''Scaphirhynchus albus'') is an endangered species of ray-finned fish, endemic to the waters of the Missouri and lower Mississippi river basins of the United States. It may have even reached the St. Croix River before colo ...
)
** ''
Scaphirhynchus platorynchus
The shovelnose sturgeon (''Scaphirhynchus platorynchus'') is the smallest species of freshwater sturgeon native to North America. It is often called "hackleback", "sand sturgeon", or "switchtail". Switchtail refers to the long filament found on ...
''
(Rafinesque
Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (; October 22, 1783September 18, 1840) was a French 19th-century polymath born near Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire and self-educated in France. He traveled as a young man in the United States, ultimat ...
, 1820) (
Shovelnose sturgeon
The shovelnose sturgeon (''Scaphirhynchus platorynchus'') is the smallest species of freshwater sturgeon native to North America. It is often called "hackleback", "sand sturgeon", or "switchtail". Switchtail refers to the long filament found on ...
)
** ''
Scaphirhynchus suttkusi
The Alabama sturgeon (''Scaphirhynchus suttkusi'') is a species of sturgeon native to the United States of America and now only believed to exist in of the lower Alabama River. The fish has a distinctive yellowish-orange color, grows to a size ...
''
J. D. Williams
J.D. Williams (born May 22, 1978) is an American actor known for his starring roles in the HBO television programs '' Oz'' as Kenny Wangler, ''The Wire'' as Bodie Broadus and ''Pootie Tang'' as Froggy, ''Surviving Family'' (2012) as Bobby, ''T ...
& Clemmer, 1991 (
Alabama sturgeon
The Alabama sturgeon (''Scaphirhynchus suttkusi'') is a species of sturgeon native to the United States of America and now only believed to exist in of the lower Alabama River. The fish has a distinctive yellowish-orange color, grows to a size ...
)
* Genus ''
Pseudoscaphirhynchus
''Pseudoscaphirhynchus'' is a genus of relatively small, highly threatened sturgeons that are restricted to the Aral Sea system (although extirpated from the Aral Sea itself), including the Amu Darya and Syr Darya river basins, in Central Asia.
...
''
Nikolskii, 1900 (
native to Central Asia)
** ''
Pseudoscaphirhynchus fedtschenkoi
The Syr Darya sturgeon (''Pseudoscaphirhynchus fedtschenkoi'') is a species of fish in the family Acipenseridae. It is found in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, where it is endemic to the Syr Darya River and, before its drainage, the Ara ...
''
(Kessler Kessler or Keßler (in German) may refer to:
* Kessler (automobile), an American automobile made 1921–1922
* Kessler (name), people named Kessler
* ''Kessler'' (TV series), a British television series from 1981
* Kessler, Ohio, an unincorporat ...
, 1872) (
Syr Darya sturgeon
The Syr Darya sturgeon (''Pseudoscaphirhynchus fedtschenkoi'') is a species of fish in the family Acipenseridae. It is found in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, where it is endemic to the Syr Darya River and, before its drainage, the Aral ...
)
** ''
Pseudoscaphirhynchus hermanni
The dwarf sturgeon, little shovelnose sturgeon, or small Amu-Darya shovelnose sturgeon (''Pseudoscaphirhynchus hermanni'') is a species of fish in the family Acipenseridae. It is found in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and probably in Tajikistan.
Po ...
''
(Kessler Kessler or Keßler (in German) may refer to:
* Kessler (automobile), an American automobile made 1921–1922
* Kessler (name), people named Kessler
* ''Kessler'' (TV series), a British television series from 1981
* Kessler, Ohio, an unincorporat ...
, 1877) (
Dwarf sturgeon
The dwarf sturgeon, little shovelnose sturgeon, or small Amu-Darya shovelnose sturgeon (''Pseudoscaphirhynchus hermanni'') is a species of fish in the family Acipenseridae. It is found in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and probably in Tajikistan.
Pop ...
)
** ''
Pseudoscaphirhynchus kaufmanni
The Amu Darya sturgeon or false shovelnose sturgeon (''Pseudoscaphirhynchus kaufmanni'') is a critically endangered species of fish in the family (biology), family Acipenseridae. It is found in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and perhaps Af ...
''
(Kessler Kessler or Keßler (in German) may refer to:
* Kessler (automobile), an American automobile made 1921–1922
* Kessler (name), people named Kessler
* ''Kessler'' (TV series), a British television series from 1981
* Kessler, Ohio, an unincorporat ...
, 1877) (
Amu Darya sturgeon
The Amu Darya sturgeon or false shovelnose sturgeon (''Pseudoscaphirhynchus kaufmanni'') is a critically endangered species of fish in the family Acipenseridae. It is found in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and perhaps Afghanistan. It in ...
)
Range and habitat
![Pantikapaion Tetrachalkon (rev)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Pantikapaion_Tetrachalkon_%28rev%29.jpg)
Sturgeon range from
subtropical
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...
to
subarctic
The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of humid continental regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Scandinavia, Siberia, and the Cairngorms. Generally, ...
waters in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
and
Eurasia
Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...
. In
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, they range along the Atlantic Coast from the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
to
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
, including the
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
and the
St. Lawrence
Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roma ...
,
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
, and
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
Rivers, as well as along the West Coast in major rivers from
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
and
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
to
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
. They occur along the European
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
coast, including the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
basin, especially in the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
and the rivers of
North Italy
Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...
; in the rivers that flow into the
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
,
Azov
Azov (russian: Азов), previously known as Azak,
is a town in Rostov Oblast, Russia, situated on the Don River just from the Sea of Azov, which derives its name from the town. Population:
History
Early settlements in the vicinity
The mo ...
, and
Caspian Caspian can refer to:
*The Caspian Sea
*The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea
*The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea
*Caspian languages, collection of languages and dialects of Caspian peopl ...
Seas (
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
,
Dnepr Dnepr may refer to:
*Dnieper, a river flowing through Russia, Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea
* Dnepr (motorcycle), a Ukraininan motocycle brand
* Dnepr (rocket), a 1999 space launch vehicle
*Dnepr radar Dnepr may refer to:
*Dnieper, a river ...
,
Volga
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...
,
Ural
Ural may refer to:
*Ural (region), in Russia and Kazakhstan
*Ural Mountains, in Russia and Kazakhstan
*Ural (river), in Russia and Kazakhstan
*Ual (tool), a mortar tool used by the Bodo people of India
*Ural Federal District, in Russia
*Ural econo ...
and
Don
Don, don or DON and variants may refer to:
Places
*County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON
*Don (river), a river in European Russia
*Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name
*Don, Benin, a town in Benin
*Don, Dang, a vill ...
); the north-flowing rivers of Russia that feed the
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...
(
Ob,
Yenisei
The Yenisey (russian: Енисе́й, ''Yeniséy''; mn, Горлог мөрөн, ''Gorlog mörön''; Buryat language, Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, ''Gorlog müren''; Tuvan language, Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, ''Uluğ-Hem''; Khakas language, K ...
,
Lena
Lena or LENA may refer to:
Places
* Léna Department, a department of Houet Province in Burkina Faso
* Lena, Manitoba, an unincorporated community located in Killarney-Turtle Mountain municipality in Manitoba, Canada
* Lena, Norway, a village in ...
,
Kolyma
Kolyma (russian: Колыма́, ) is a region located in the Russian Far East. It is bounded to the north by the East Siberian Sea and the Arctic Ocean, and by the Sea of Okhotsk to the south. The region gets its name from the Kolyma River an ...
); in the rivers of
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
(
Amu Darya
The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin language, Latin name or Greek ) is a major rive ...
and
Syr Darya
The Syr Darya (, ),, , ; rus, Сырдарья́, Syrdarjja, p=sɨrdɐˈrʲja; fa, سيردريا, Sirdaryâ; tg, Сирдарё, Sirdaryo; tr, Seyhun, Siri Derya; ar, سيحون, Seyḥūn; uz, Sirdaryo, script-Latn/. historically known ...
) and
Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal (, russian: Oзеро Байкал, Ozero Baykal ); mn, Байгал нуур, Baigal nuur) is a rift lake in Russia. It is situated in southern Siberia, between the federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...
. In the Pacific Ocean, they are found in the
Amur River
The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...
along the Russian-
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
border, on
Sakhalin
Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...
Island, and some rivers in northeast China.
Throughout this extensive range, almost all species are highly threatened or vulnerable to extinction due to a combination of
habitat destruction
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
, overfishing, and pollution.
No species is known to naturally occur south of the equator, though attempts at sturgeon
aquaculture
Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...
are being made in
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, and other places.
Most species are at least partially
anadromous
Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousan ...
,
spawning
Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquati ...
in fresh water and feeding in nutrient-rich, brackish waters of
estuaries
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
or undergoing significant migrations along coastlines. However, some species have evolved purely freshwater existences, such as the
lake sturgeon
The lake sturgeon (''Acipenser fulvescens''), also known as the rock sturgeon, is a North American temperate freshwater fish, one of about 25 species of sturgeon. Like other sturgeons, this species is a bottom feeder with evolutionarily basal t ...
(''Acipenser fulvescens'') and the
Baikal sturgeon
The Siberian sturgeon (''Acipenser baerii'') is a species of sturgeon in the family Acipenseridae. It is most present in all of the major Siberian river basins that drain northward into the Kara, Laptev and East Siberian Seas, including the O ...
(''A. baerii baicalensis''), or have been forced into them by human or natural
impoundment
Impoundment may refer to:
Water control
* The result of a dam, creating a body of water
** A reservoir, formed by a dam
** Coal slurry impoundment, a specialized form of such a reservoir used for coal mining and processing
* Impounded dock, an enc ...
of their native rivers, as in the case of some subpopulations of
white sturgeon
White sturgeon (''Acipenser transmontanus'') is a species of sturgeon in the family Acipenseridae of the order Acipenseriformes. They are an anadromous fish species ranging in the Eastern Pacific; from the Gulf of Alaska to Monterey, Californ ...
(''A. transmontanus'') in the
Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...
and
Siberian sturgeon
The Siberian sturgeon (''Acipenser baerii'') is a species of sturgeon in the family Acipenseridae. It is most present in all of the major Siberian river basins that drain northward into the Kara, Laptev and East Siberian Seas, including the Ob ...
(''A. baerii'') in the Ob basin.
Physical characteristics
![NIE 1905 Sturgeon - Skull](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/NIE_1905_Sturgeon_-_Skull.jpg)
Sturgeons retain several primitive characteristics from the bony fishes. Along with other members of the
subclass Chondrostei
Chondrostei is a group of non-neopterygian ray-finned fish, while the term originally referred to a paraphyletic group of all non-neopterygian ray-finned fish, it was redefined by Patterson in 1982 to be a clade comprising the Acipenseriformes (w ...
, they are unique among bony fishes because their skeletons are almost entirely
cartilaginous
Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints as articular cartilage, and is a structural component of many body parts including the rib cage, the neck and ...
. To maintain structure, sturgeons are one of few organisms to retain a post-embryonic
notochord
In anatomy, the notochord is a flexible rod which is similar in structure to the stiffer cartilage. If a species has a notochord at any stage of its life cycle (along with 4 other features), it is, by definition, a chordate. The notochord consis ...
that acts like a soft spine running through the body. Notably, however, the cartilagineous skeleton is not a primitive character, but a derived one; sturgeon ancestors had bony skeletons.
They also lack
vertebral centra
The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates,Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristic ...
, and are partially covered with five lateral rows of scutes rather than
scales
Scale or scales may refer to:
Mathematics
* Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points
* Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original
* Scale factor, a number w ...
.
They also have four
barbels
In fish anatomy and turtle anatomy, a barbel is a slender, whiskerlike sensory organ near the mouth. Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, the hagfish, the sturgeon, the zebrafish, the black dragonfish and some ...
—sensory organs that precede their wide, toothless mouths. They navigate their riverine habitats traveling just off the bottom with their barbels dragging along gravel, or murky substrate. Sturgeon are recognizable for their elongated bodies, flattened
rostra
The rostra ( it, Rostri, links=no) was a large platform built in the city of Rome that stood during the republican and imperial periods. Speakers would stand on the rostra and face the north side of the comitium towards the senate house and deli ...
, distinctive scutes and barbels, and elongated upper tail lobes. The skeletal support for the paired fins of ray-finned fish is inside the body wall, although the ray-like structures in the webbing of the fins can be seen externally.
Sturgeons are among the largest fish: some
beluga The beluga whale (/bɪˈluːɡə/) (Delphinapterus leucas) is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. It is one of two members of the family Monodontidae, along with the narwhal, and the only member of the genus Delphinapterus. It is also known as the wh ...
(''Huso huso'') in the
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...
reportedly attain over and while for
kaluga
Kaluga ( rus, Калу́га, p=kɐˈɫuɡə), a city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast in Russia, stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Population:
Kaluga's most famous resident, the space travel pioneer Konstantin Tsiol ...
(''H. dauricus'') in the
Amur River
The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...
, similar lengths and over weights have been reported. They are also among the longest-lived of the fishes, some living well over 100 years and attaining sexual maturity at 20 years or more.
[Berg, L.S. (1962). Freshwater fishes of the U.S.S.R. and adjacent countries. volume 1, 4th edition. Israel Program for Scientific Translations Ltd., Jerusalem. (Russian version published 1948).] The combination of slow growth and reproductive rates and the extremely high value placed on mature, egg-bearing females make sturgeon particularly vulnerable to
overfishing
Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in th ...
.
Sturgeons are
polyploid
Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei ( eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set contain ...
; some species have four, eight, or 16 sets of chromosomes.
Life cycle
Sturgeons are long-lived, late maturing fishes. Their average lifespan is 50 to 60 years, and their first
spawn
Spawn or spawning may refer to:
* Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise
** '' Spawn: Ar ...
does not occur until they are around 15 to 20 years old. Sturgeons are broadcast spawners, and do not spawn every year because they require specific conditions. Those requirements may or may not be met every year due to varying environmental conditions, such as the proper
photoperiod
Photoperiodism is the physiological reaction of organisms to the length of night or a dark period. It occurs in plants and animals. Plant photoperiodism can also be defined as the developmental responses of plants to the relative lengths of light a ...
in spring, clear water with shallow rock or gravel
substrate, where the eggs can adhere, and proper water temperature and flow for
oxygenation
Oxygenation may refer to:
* Oxygenation (environmental), a measurement of dissolved oxygen concentration in soil or water
* Oxygen saturation (medicine), the process by which concentrations of oxygen increase within a tissue
* Water oxygenation, t ...
of the eggs. A single female may release 100,000 to 3 million eggs, but not all will be fertilized. The fertilized eggs become sticky and adhere to the bottom substrate upon contact. Eight to 15 days are needed for the embryos to mature into
larval fish
Ichthyoplankton (from Greek: ἰχθύς, , "fish"; and πλαγκτός, , "drifter") are the eggs and larvae of fish. They are mostly found in the sunlit zone of the water column, less than 200 metres deep, which is sometimes called the epip ...
. During that time, they are dependent on their yolk sacs for nourishment.
River currents carry the larvae downstream into backwater areas, such as
oxbows __NOTOC__
An oxbow is a U-shaped metal pole (or larger wooden frame) that fits the underside and the sides of the neck of an ox or bullock. A bow pin holds it in place.
The term "oxbow" is widely used to refer to a U-shaped meander in a river, ...
and
sloughs
A slough ( or ) is a wetland, usually a swamp or shallow lake, often a backwater to a larger body of water. Water tends to be stagnant or may flow slowly on a seasonal basis.
In North America, "slough" may refer to a side-channel from or feedi ...
, where the free-swimming
fry spend their first year feeding on insect larvae and
crustacea
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean gro ...
. During their first year of growth, they reach in length and migrate back into the swift-flowing currents in the
main stem
In hydrology, a mainstem (or trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". Water enters the mainstem from the river's drainage basin, the land area through which the mainstem and its tributaries flow.. A ...
river.
Behavior
![Sturgeon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Sturgeon.jpg)
Sturgeons are primarily
benthic
The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...
feeders, with a diet of shellfish, crustaceans, and small fish. Exceptionally, both ''Huso'' species, the
white sturgeon
White sturgeon (''Acipenser transmontanus'') is a species of sturgeon in the family Acipenseridae of the order Acipenseriformes. They are an anadromous fish species ranging in the Eastern Pacific; from the Gulf of Alaska to Monterey, Californ ...
and the
pallid sturgeon
The pallid sturgeon (''Scaphirhynchus albus'') is an endangered species of ray-finned fish, endemic to the waters of the Missouri and lower Mississippi river basins of the United States. It may have even reached the St. Croix River before colo ...
feed primarily on other fish as adults. They feed by extending their syphon-like mouths to suck food from the
benthos
Benthos (), also known as benthon, is the community of organisms that live on, in, or near the bottom of a sea, river, lake, or stream, also known as the benthic zone.[salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...](_bl ...<br></span></div>. Having no teeth, they are unable to seize prey, though larger individuals and more predatory species can swallow very large prey items, including whole <div class=)
. Sturgeons feed non-visually. They are believed to use a combination of sensors, including olfactory, tactile, and chemosensory cues detected by the four barbels, and
electroreception
Electroreception and electrogenesis are the closely-related biological abilities to perceive electrical stimuli and to generate electric fields. Both are used to locate prey; stronger electric discharges are used in a few groups of fishes to stu ...
using their
ampullae of Lorenzini
Ampullae of Lorenzini (singular ''Ampulla'') are electroreceptors, sense organs able to detect electric fields. They form a network of mucus-filled pores in the skin of cartilaginous fish (sharks, rays, and chimaeras) and of basal actinopterygia ...
.
The sturgeons' electroreceptors are located on the head and are sensitive to weak electric fields generated by other animals or geoelectric sources.
The electroreceptors are thought to be used in various behaviors such as feeding, mating and migration.
Many sturgeons leap completely out of the water,
usually making a loud splash which can be heard half a mile away on the surface and probably further under water. Why they do this is not known, but suggested functions include group communication to maintain group cohesion, catching airborne prey,
courtship display
A courtship display is a set of display behaviors in which an animal, usually a male, attempts to attract a mate; the mate exercises choice, so sexual selection acts on the display. These behaviors often include ritualized movement ("dances"), ...
, or to help shed eggs during spawning. Other plausible explanations include escape from predators, shedding parasites, or to gulp or expel air.
Another explanation is that it "simply feels good".
There have been some incidents of leaping sturgeon landing in boats, and causing injuries to humans;
in 2015, a 5-year-old girl was fatally injured after a sturgeon leapt from the
Suwannee River
The Suwannee River (also spelled Suwanee River) is a river that runs through south Georgia southward into Florida in the southern United States. It is a wild blackwater river, about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset hig ...
and struck her.
Interactions with humans
Caviar
![SturgeonTurkmarket](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/SturgeonTurkmarket.jpg)
Globally, sturgeon fisheries are of great value, primarily as a source for
caviar
Caviar (also known as caviare; from fa, خاویار, khâvyâr, egg-bearing) is a food consisting of salt-cured roe of the family Acipenseridae. Caviar is considered a delicacy and is eaten as a garnish or a spread. Traditionally, the ter ...
, but also for flesh.
Several species of sturgeon are harvested for their roe which is processed into caviar—a
delicacy
A delicacy is usually a rare and expensive food item that is considered highly desirable, sophisticated, or peculiarly distinctive within a given culture. Irrespective of local preferences, such a label is typically pervasive throughout a r ...
, and the reason why caviar-producing sturgeons are among the most valuable and endangered of all wildlife resources.
During the 19th century, the US was the global leader in caviar production, having cornered 90% of the world's caviar trade.
Atlantic sturgeon once thrived along the east coast from Canada down to
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. They were in such abundance in the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
that they were called "Albany beef" and sturgeon eggs were given away at local bars as an accompaniment to 5¢ beer.
White sturgeon populations along the US west coast declined simultaneously under the pressure of commercial fishing and human encroachment. Within the course of a century, the once abundant sturgeon fisheries in the US and Canada had drastically declined, and in some areas had been extirpated under the pressure of commercial overharvesting, pollution, human encroachment, habitat loss, and the damming of rivers that blocked their ancestral migration to spawning grounds.
By the turn of the century, commercial production of sturgeon caviar in the US and Canada had come to an end. Regulatory protections and conservation efforts were put in place by state and federal resource agencies in the US and Canada, such as the 1998 US federal moratorium that closed all commercial fishing for Atlantic sturgeon.[ It was during the 20th century that Russia grew to become the global leader as the largest producer and exporter of caviar.][ As with the decline in sturgeon populations in the US and Canada, the same occurred with sturgeon populations in the Caspian Sea.]
Beginning with the 1979 US embargo on Iran, poaching
Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights.
Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...
and smuggling sturgeon caviar was big business but an illegal and dangerous one. Officers with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is a department of the government of the state of Washington, United States of America. The WDFW manages over a million acres of land, the bulk of which is generally open to the public, and mor ...
(WDFW) busted a poaching ring that was based in Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...
. The poachers had harvested 1.65 tons of caviar from nearly 2,000 white sturgeon that were poached from the Columbia River. The caviar was estimated to be worth around $2 million. WDFW busted another ring in 2003, and conducted an undercover sting operation in 2006-2007 that resulted in 17 successful attempts out of a total of 19.
In response to concerns over the future of sturgeons and associated commercial products, international trade for all species of sturgeons has been regulated under CITES
CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...
since 1998.
Conservation
Sturgeons are threatened by the negative impacts of overfishing, poaching, habitat destruction
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
, and the construction of dams that have altered or blocked their annual migration to ancestral spawning grounds. Some species of sturgeon are extinct, and several are on the verge of extinction, including the Chinese sturgeon
The Chinese sturgeon (''Acipenser sinensis''; ) is a critically endangered member of the family Acipenseridae in the order Acipenseriformes. Historically, this anadromous fish was found in China, Japan, and the Korean Peninsula, but it has b ...
, the highly prized beluga sturgeon, and the Alabama sturgeon
The Alabama sturgeon (''Scaphirhynchus suttkusi'') is a species of sturgeon native to the United States of America and now only believed to exist in of the lower Alabama River. The fish has a distinctive yellowish-orange color, grows to a size ...
. Many species are classified as threatened or endangered, with noticeable declines in sturgeon populations as the demand for caviar increases. IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
data indicates that over 85% of sturgeon species are at risk of extinction, making them more critically endangered than any other group of animal species.
In addition to global restocking efforts, the monitoring of populations and habitat, and various other conservation efforts by national and state resource agencies as applicable to their respective countries, several conservation organizations have been formed to assist in the preservation of sturgeons around the world. On a global scale, one such organization is the World Sturgeon Conservation Society
The World Sturgeon Conservation Society (WSCS) is an international association of scientists. Its aim is to conserve existing sturgeon populations worldwide and help in their restoration. The society pursues this goal by promoting sturgeon research ...
(WSCS) whose primary objectives include fostering the "conservation of sturgeon species and restoration of sturgeon stocks world-wide”, and supporting the "information exchange among all persons interested in sturgeons." The North American Sturgeon and Paddlefish Society (NASPS) and Gesellschaft zur Rettung des Störs e.V. are WSCS affiliates. WSCS has been instrumental in organizing global conferences where scientists and researchers can exchange information and address the various conservation challenges that threaten the future of sturgeons. Conservation efforts at the grass roots level are also instrumental in helping to preserve sturgeon populations, such as Sturgeon For Tomorrow which was founded in 1977, consists of volunteers and a sturgeon guarding program to monitor known spawning sites. The organization has grown exponentially over the years and has become "the largest citizen advocacy group for sturgeon in the world", and has expanded with affiliate chapters in other states that have sturgeon populations. Other projects focus on specific local issues, such as the We Pass project, seeking a solution to the migratory impasse represented by the Iron Gates
The Iron Gates ( ro, Porțile de Fier; sr, / or / ; Hungarian: ''Vaskapu-szoros'') is a gorge on the river Danube. It forms part of the boundary between Serbia (to the south) and Romania (north). In the broad sense it encompasses a rou ...
in the Danube River Basin. For example, currently all anadromous Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
sturgeon (all species except the predominantly freshwater sterlet) are now classed as Critically Endangered or extirpated from the upper and middle reaches of the Danube River above the dams.
Other uses
Before 1800, swim bladders
The swim bladder, gas bladder, fish maw, or air bladder is an internal gas-filled organ that contributes to the ability of many bony fish (but not cartilaginous fish) to control their buoyancy, and thus to stay at their current water depth wi ...
of sturgeon (primarily Beluga sturgeon from Russia) were used as a source of isinglass
Isinglass () is a substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish. It is a form of collagen used mainly for the clarification or fining of some beer and wine. It can also be cooked into a paste for specialised gluing purposes.
The E ...
, a form of collagen used historically for the clarification of wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
and beer
Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
, as a predecessor for gelatin
Gelatin or gelatine (from la, gelatus meaning "stiff" or "frozen") is a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient, commonly derived from collagen taken from animal body parts. It is brittle when dry and rubbery when moist. It may also ...
, and to preserve parchments
Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves, and goats. It has been used as a writing medium for over two millennia. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins of ...
.
The Jewish law of kashrut
(also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...
, which only permits the consumption of fish with scales, forbids sturgeon, as they have ganoid scale
A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as we ...
s instead of the permitted ctenoid
A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as ...
and cycloid scale
A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as w ...
s. While all Orthodox groups forbid the consumption of sturgeon, some conservative groups do allow it. The theological debate over its kosher status can be traced back to such 19th-century reformers as Aron Chorin
Aaron Chorin ( he, אהרן חארין; August 3, 1766August 24, 1844) was a Hungarian rabbi and pioneer of early religious reform. He favored the use of the organ and of prayers in the vernacular, and was instrumental in founding schools alon ...
, though its consumption was already common in European Jewish communities.
Sturgeons were declared to be a royal fish Under the law of the United Kingdom, whales (mammal) and sturgeons are royal fish, and when taken become the personal property of the monarch of the United Kingdom as part of his or her royal prerogative.
In England and Wales
According to William B ...
under a statute dating back to 1324 by King Edward II of England
Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to ...
. Technically, the British monarchy still owns all sturgeons, whale
Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...
s, and dolphin
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...
s that inhabit the waters around England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
. Under the law of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, any sturgeons captured within the realm are personal property of the monarch.William Blackstone
Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, judge and Tory politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the ''Commentaries on the Laws of England''. Born into a middle-class family i ...
, Commentaries on the Laws of England
The ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'' are an influential 18th-century treatise on the common law of England by Sir William Blackstone, originally published by the Clarendon Press at Oxford, 1765–1770. The work is divided into four volume ...
, book I, ch. 8 "Of the King's Revenue", ss. X, p. *280
In heraldry, a sturgeon is the symbol on the coat of arms for Saint Amalberga of Temse
Amalberga of Temse (c. 741 – 10 July 772) was a Lotharingian noblewoman from the Frankish royal house of the Pippinids who is celebrated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. She is especially venerated in ...
.
Notes
* This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
:
References
External links
FishBase info on Acipenser
Official website
of the World Sturgeon Conservation Society
The World Sturgeon Conservation Society (WSCS) is an international association of scientists. Its aim is to conserve existing sturgeon populations worldwide and help in their restoration. The society pursues this goal by promoting sturgeon research ...
PBS special, video clips and public outreach videos about sturgeon
{{Good article
Articles containing video clips
Commercial fish
Apex predators
Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte
Extant Maastrichtian first appearances