Species of the Day: Beluga Sturgeon

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© Tony Gilbert Tony © Species of the Day: Beluga Sturgeon The Beluga Sturgeon, Huso huso, is listed as ‘Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. Also known as the Giant Sturgeon, it is the largest sturgeon in the world, and the largest freshwater fish in Europe, where it occurs primarily in and around the Caspian, Black, and occasionally in the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas. Overfishing, habitat loss and pollution threaten the survival of the Beluga Sturgeon. Its eggs Geographical range are highly prized as beluga caviar, and illegal fishing is reported to be common. Pollution, www.iucnredlist.org dams and silting can cause habitat destruction by damaging coastal waters and altering river www.iucn.org/sturgeon_sg courses. For example, the Volgograd Dam in Russia has effectively blocked access to almost Help Save Species all of the species’ spawning grounds along the Volga River. www.arkive.org The majority of the Beluga Sturgeon population is now supported artificially, with hatcheries thought to be the sole reason the species still survives in the Caspian Sea. The United States is the biggest importer of beluga caviar, and has now listed the species as ‘Threatened’ under the Endangered Species Act, suspending imports. The production of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ is made possible through the IUCN Red List Partnership: Species of the Day IUCN (including the Species Survival Commission), BirdLife is sponsored by International, Conservation International, NatureServe and Zoological Society of London..

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Sturgeons of the Caspian Sea and Ural River
Photo and image credits: Front Cover: Top left, beluga sturgeon (Huso huso); Top Right: Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii); Bottom: stellate sturgeon (Acipenser stellatus); Todd Stailey, Tennessee Aquarium. Back Cover: “FISH IS OUR TREASURE”, Phaedra Doukakis, Ph. D. IOCS; Page 1: Shannon Crownover, The Nature Conservancy; Page 6, 9, 10, 11: Phaedra Doukakis, Ph. D., IOCS; Page 4, 5, 7 designed by Grace Lewis. Brochure content was developed by Alison Ormsby, Ph.D. and Phaedra Doukakis, Ph. D. with editorial review by Yael Wyner, Ph. D. Layout was designed by Grace Lewis. The brochure was developed under a generous grant from Agip KCO. Agip KCO Tel.: international line: 1, K. Smagulov Street +39 02 9138 3300 Atyrau, 06002 Tel: local lines: Republic of Kazakhstan (+7) 7122 92 3300 Fax: (+7) 7122 92 3310 Designed and printed in Kazakhstan www.agipkco.com Sturgeons of the Caspian Sea and Ural River www.oceanconservationscience.org A Unique and Precious Resource What are Sturgeon? River, other rivers off the Caspian Sea are used by sturgeons for With bony plates called scutes on their bodies and ancestors that reproduction, including the Volga River in Russia and the Kura date to the time of dinosaurs, sturgeons are unusual fish. Unlike River in Azerbaijan. However, dams on the Volga and Kura have other types of fish, sturgeons have scutes instead of scales. blocked sturgeons from being able to migrate upriver, and have changed the quality of the rivers so they are no longer able to support sturgeon reproduction. Reproduction: For sturgeon, the process of mixing female eggs and male sperm to create a fertilized egg that hatches into a baby sturgeon.
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THE CASE AGAINST Marine Mammals in Captivity Authors: Naomi A
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Federal Register/Vol. 69, No. 77/Wednesday, April 21, 2004
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Exotic Species in the Aegean, Marmara, Black, Azov and Caspian Seas
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