Saturday 15 June
Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser sturio)
CRITICALLYENDANGERED
Atlantic sturgeon fact file
- Description
- Biology
- Range
- Habitat
- Status
- Threats
- Conservation
- Find out more
- Glossary
- References
- Print factsheet
Atlantic sturgeon description
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Actinopterygii |
| Order | Acipenseriformes |
| Family | Acipenseridae |
| Genus | Acipenser (1) |
One of the largest European fish to breed in rivers, the Atlantic sturgeon has been fished to the brink of extinction principally as a source of caviar (2). This sturgeon has an olive-black upper body and a white belly (4). The elongated body tapers to a narrow pointed tip at the snout and lacks scales, apart from the five rows of whitish bony platelets, or scutes, which run the length of the fish (4). Atlantic sturgeon have sensitive barbels which are positioned on the lower jaw and are used to locate prey, which is then sucked into the mouth (4).
- Also known as
- Baltic sturgeon, common sturgeon.
- French
- Esturgeon Commun.
- Spanish
- Esturión Común.
- Barbels
- Fleshy projections near the mouth of some fish.
- Invertebrates
- Animals with no backbone.
- Natal
- Site of birth.
-
IUCN Red List (May, 2013)
http://www.iucnredlist.org - Burnie, D. (2001) Animal. Dorling Kindersley, London.
-
CITES (August, 2002)
http://www.cites.org -
Fishbase (August, 2002)
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?genusname=Acipenser&speciesname=sturio - Waldman, J. (2003) Pers. comm.
-
WCMC Species Sheets (March, 2008)
http://www.unep-wcmc.org/species/data/species_sheets/sturgeon.htm - Eihao, J. (1991) Freshwater Fish. Aventinum Publishing, Prague.
-
Helsinki Convention (HELCOM) (August, 2002)
http://www.helcom.fi/environment2/biodiv/en_GB/fish/?u4.highlight=sturgeon - view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
- download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
- teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.
More »
Top
Related species
Atlantic sturgeon biology
Sturgeons are generally solitary, spending a number of years at sea before returning to the river where they were born, in order to breed in their turn. Entering the river in spring, mature individuals migrate upriver to the shallow spawning grounds (4). Females can produce between 200,000 and 6 million eggs, which are sticky so that they can attach to the gravel substrate (4). Mature individuals do not eat throughout the spawning migration (4). As the juveniles grow they begin to migrate downstream, and adult fish spend about seven to eight years at sea before reaching sexual maturity (7).
Sturgeon feed opportunistically on bottom dwelling creatures, feeling for prey amongst the mud with the sensitive barbels on their chin. Their food consists mainly of invertebrates and small fish (4).
TopAtlantic sturgeon range
Previously abundant along all European coasts, the Atlantic sturgeon is today restricted to a single, reproductive population that breeds in the Gironde River, France (5).
More »
Top
Species with a similar range
Atlantic sturgeon habitat
Sturgeons are found near to the bottom of the water column, over a soft sandy or muddy substrate (6). Adults are found in the lower sections of large rivers and in the open sea, whilst spawning occurs upriver in shallow pools with a gravel base (6).
More »
Top
Species found in a similar habitat
Atlantic sturgeon status
Classified as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List 2007 (1), and listed on Appendix I of CITES (3).
Atlantic sturgeon threats
These long-lived and slow-growing fish are very vulnerable to exploitation; the Atlantic sturgeon has been extensively fished for its highly prized flesh and for the eggs, which are sold as caviar (6). The development of river systems, in particular the construction of hydroelectric dams, destroys the breeding habitat of this species and adults are no longer able to return to their natal rivers to breed (8). Today only a single reproductive population remains and the species is consequently extremely vulnerable to extinction (5).
TopAtlantic sturgeon conservation
The Atlantic sturgeon is protected from international trade by its listing on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) (3). A captive breeding programme (8) for the species is being undertaken with the long-term goal of reintroducing this 'dinosaur of the sea' to some of its former range.
|
View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. |
Authentication
Authenticated (13/8/03) by John Waldman, Hudson River Foundation.
http://www.hudsonriver.org
Glossary
References
More »Related species
Sign up to our newsletter
Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.
Get involved
ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!
Saturday 15 June
Friday 14 June
X
Close
Close
Image credit
Atlantic sturgeon egg and larvae
© Philippe Garguil / Biosphoto
Biosphoto
16 rue Velouterie
Avignon
84000
France
Tel: +33 (490) 162 042
Fax: +33 (663) 208 434
http://www.biosphoto.com/
X
Close
Close
Link to this photo
Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.
Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.
Read more about
X
Close
Close
MyARKive
MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.
X
Close
Close
Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials
Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.
Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:
End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.
Additional use of flagged material
Green flagged material 
Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.
Creative commons material
Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.
Any other use
Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.
Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.