The Persian sturgeon (''Acipenser persicus'') is a species of fish in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Acipenseridae. It is found 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 ...

and to a lesser extent the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

and ascends certain rivers to spawn, mainly the

Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchm ...

, Kura,

Araks , az, Araz, fa, ارس, tr, Aras The Aras (also known as the Araks, Arax, Araxes, or Araz) is a river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan excl ...

and

Ural River The Ural (russian: Урал, ), known before 1775 as Yaik (russian: Яик, ba, Яйыҡ, translit=Yayıq, ; kk, Жайық, translit=Jaiyq, ), is a river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan in the continental border between Europe and Asia ...

s. It is heavily fished for its flesh and its roe and is limited in its up-river migrations by damming of the rivers. Young fish feed on small invertebrates, graduating to larger prey such as crabs and fish as they grow. The threats faced by this fish include excessive fishing with the removal of immature fish before they have bred, damming of the rivers, loss of spawning areas and water pollution. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature 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 nat ...

has listed the fish as critically endangered and has suggested that the increased provision of hatcheries could be of benefit.

Physical appearance

The Persian or Caspian sturgeon has an elongated, bulky body with a bluish tint.Kuliev, ZM & Ivanova, LA. "Acipenser persicus". Caspian Environment Org (http://www.caspianenvironment.org/biodb/eng/fishes/Acipenser%20persicus/main.htm) Accessed 4/27/2007. This type of sturgeon is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the Caspian and

basins, but primarily resides in the Caspian Sea. Populations may also occur in tributaries and rivers inbound to the Caspian Sea. Sturgeons are commercially important fishes valued for their meat but mainly for their roe.Alavi, Sayyed Mohammad Hadi & Cosson, Jacky. Sperm motility and fertilizing ability in the Persian sturgeon Acipenser persicus. Aquaculture Research, 2005, 36, 841-850. Accessed May 1, 2007. Formerly omnipresent in the region, heavy fishing of the sturgeon 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 te ...

has forced it to Critically Endangered Species status.Sturgeon Specialist Group 1996. Acipenser persicus. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Accessed April 27, 2007.

Distribution

The Persian sturgeon feeds at the shelf zone of the sea, primarily in the eastern part of the South Caspian. Individual specimens are found in the North Caspian, western part of the Middle and South Caspian.Kuliev, ZM & Ivanova, LA. "Acipenser persicus". Caspian Environment Org (http://www.caspianenvironment.org/biodb/eng/fishes/Acipenser%20persicus/main.htm) Accessed April 27, 2007.

Ecology

The Persian sturgeon is a

heterotroph A heterotroph (; ) is an organism that cannot produce its own food, instead taking nutrition from other sources of organic carbon, mainly plant or animal matter. In the food chain, heterotrophs are primary, secondary and tertiary consumers, but ...

equipped with tactile and gustatory receptors; when feeding it simply sucks in its food. The eating habits of the sturgeon change throughout its life. As it begins life the sturgeon feeds on invertebrates including Mysid shrimp, Chironomid flies and gammarid amphipods. At approximately age 2–3 years many feed on crabs or fish, and finally in adulthood the Persian sturgeon consumption is primarily fish. The sturgeon mainly reproduces in the

, Kura,

, and

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 econ ...

rivers. This sexual reproduction occurs in waters that are 20-25 °C. Spawning occurs at different times for the different rivers. There is spawning in the Volga river from late July to early August, in the Krua river from April to mid-September and in the Ural river from June to July. Other than at times of spawning the sturgeon is a bottom dweller in the mud or sand.

Conservation

There are four considerations one must account for when discussing the conservation of the Persian sturgeon. The regulation of streams and the damming of rivers, the loss of spawning areas, contamination levels of rivers into the Caspian Sea and fishing at sea. Many of the problems for the sturgeon are inflicted by human activity, especially fishing. When fisherman take the sturgeon out of the sea prematurely they disrupt the ecological cycle by taking out immature fish and decreasing the spawning population. One such solution to this problem would be governmental or non-governmental subsidies to aid hatcheries in the artificial reproduction of the Persian sturgeon.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q499866 Acipenser Fish of the Black Sea Fish of the Caspian Sea Freshwater fish of Asia Freshwater fish of Europe Fish of Central Asia Fish of Western Asia Fish of Iran Fish of Russia Critically endangered fish Critically endangered fauna of Asia Critically endangered biota of Europe Fish described in 1897