Sturgeon

**Sturgeon** is the common name for 28 species of fish in the family **Acipenseridae**. The family has four extant genera: _Acipenser_, _Huso_, _Scaphirhynchus_, and _Pseudoscaphirhynchus_. Some species of sturgeon (for example, the beluga), are harvested for their valuable caviar.

## Description

Sturgeons are known for their long body, which contains dozens of plates called scutes. They have a sharp snout and a heterocercal tail.

## Evolution

Sturgeons have been referred to as "living fossils" or "primitive fish" because their features have not changed very much since their earliest fossil record.

### History

Acipenseriformes first appeared 174–201 mya. Then, the "true" sturgeons appeared in the Upper Cretaceous.

### Taxonomy

Family **Acipenseridae** (sturgeons)

- Genus _Acipenser_ <small>Linnaeus, 1758</small>
    - †_Acipenser albertensis_ <small>Lambe 1902</small> >
    - _Acipenser baerii_ <small>J. F. Brandt, 1869</small> (Siberian sturgeon)
        - _Acipenser baerii baicalensis_ <small>A. M. Nikolskii, 1896</small> (Baikal sturgeon)
        - _Acipenser baerii stenorrhynchus_ <small>A. M. Nikolskii, 1896</small>
    - _Acipenser brevirostrum_ <small>Lesueur, 1818</small> (Shortnose sturgeon)
    - _Acipenser dabryanus_ <small>A. H. A. Duméril, 1869</small> (Yangtze sturgeon)
    - †_Acipenser cruciferus_ <small>(Cope 1876)</small>
    - †_Acipenser eruciferus_ <small>Cope 1876</small>
    - _Acipenser fulvescens_ <small>Rafinesque, 1817</small> (Lake sturgeon)
    - †_Acipenser gigantissimus_ <small>Nessov 1997</small>
    - _Acipenser gueldenstaedtii_ <small>J. F. Brandt & Ratzeburg, 1833</small> (Russian sturgeon)
    - _Acipenser medirostris_ <small>Ayres, 1854</small> (Green sturgeon)
    - _Acipenser mikadoi_ <small>Hilgendorf, 1892</small> (Sakhalin sturgeon)
    - †_Acipenser molassicus_ <small>Probst 1882</small>
    - _Acipenser naccarii_ <small>Bonaparte, 1836</small> (Adriatic sturgeon)
    - _Acipenser nudiventris_ <small>Lovetsky, 1828</small> (Fringebarbel sturgeon)
    - †_Acipenser ornatus_ <small>Leidy 1873</small>
    - _Acipenser oxyrinchus_ <small>Mitchill, 1815</small>
        - _Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi_ <small>Vladykov, 1955</small> (Gulf sturgeon)
        - _Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus_ <small>Mitchill, 1815</small> (Atlantic sturgeon)
    - _Acipenser persicus_ <small>Borodin, 1897</small> (Persian sturgeon)
    - _Acipenser ruthenus_ <small>Linnaeus, 1758</small> (Sterlet)
    - _Acipenser schrenckii_ <small>J. F. Brandt, 1869</small> (Japanese sturgeon)
    - _Acipenser sinensis_ <small>J. E. Gray, 1835</small> (Chinese sturgeon)
    - _Acipenser stellatus_ <small>Pallas, 1771</small> (Starry sturgeon)
    - _Acipenser sturio_ <small>Linnaeus, 1758</small> (European sea sturgeon)
    - †_Acipenser toliapicus_ <small>Agassiz 1844 ex Woodward 1889</small>
    - _Acipenser transmontanus_ <small>J. Richardson, 1836</small> (White sturgeon)
    - †_Acipenser tuberculosus_ <small>Probst 1882</small>
- Genus _Huso_ <small>J. F. Brandt & Ratzeburg, 1833</small>
    - _Huso dauricus_ <small>(Georgi, 1775)</small> (kaluga)
    - _Huso huso_ <small>(Linnaeus, 1758)</small> (beluga)
- Genus _Scaphirhynchus_ <small>Heckel, 1835</small>
    - _Scaphirhynchus albus_ <small>(Forbes & R. E. Richardson, 1905)</small> (Pallid sturgeon)
    - _Scaphirhynchus platorynchus_ <small>(Rafinesque, 1820)</small> (Shovelnose sturgeon)
    - _Scaphirhynchus suttkusi_ <small>J. D. Williams & Clemmer, 1991</small> (Alabama sturgeon)
- Genus _Pseudoscaphirhynchus_ <small>Nikolskii, 1900</small>
    - _Pseudoscaphirhynchus fedtschenkoi_ <small>(Kessler, 1872)</small> (Syr Darya sturgeon)
    - _Pseudoscaphirhynchus hermanni_ <small>(Kessler, 1877)</small> (Dwarf sturgeon)
    - _Pseudoscaphirhynchus kaufmanni_ <small>(Kessler, 1877)</small> (Amu Darya sturgeon)

## Habitat

Sturgeon range from subtropical to subarctic waters in North America and Eurasia. In North America, they range along the Atlantic coast from the Gulf of Mexico to Newfoundland. They used to be found throughout the Mississippi River, the Great Lakes and the Hudson River.

Throughout this extensive range, almost all species are highly threatened or vulnerable to extinction due to a combination of habitat destruction, overfishing, and pollution.

In the last century, this large fish was often regarded as a nuisance because it often became entangled in and caused  commercial fishing nets to become ripped. Only much later did the sturgeon become prized for its meat, eggs (caviar) and oil. Gelatin from the inner lining of its air bladder was used to make isinglass–a substance used as a clarifying agent in jellies, glues and in the isinglass windows of carriages and early cars. Nowadays, the lake sturgeon's dark form can be sometimes be discerned in reedy shallows or near river mouths.

## Other websites

- Acipenser on the FishBase website
- https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q181871