The green sturgeon, Acipenser medirostris, is one of two acipenserid fishes native to the temperate waters of the Pacific coast of North America. Originally, three species of sturgeon were described from this region, and this one named ‘‘medirostris’’ or ‘‘middle snout’’ based on the length of its rostrum relative to the other purported species (Ayers 1854), both of which were later determined ...

Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus, Acipenseridae) populations are currently at severely depleted levels due to historic overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution. The importance of biologically correct stock structure for effective conservation and management efforts is well known. Recent improvements in our understanding of Atlantic sturgeon migrations, movement, and the occurr...

The utility of genetic measures for kinship reconstruction in polysomic species is not well evaluated. We developed a framework to test hypotheses about estimating breeding population size indirectly from collections of outmigrating green sturgeon juveniles. We evaluated a polysomic dataset, in allelic frequency and phenotypic formats, from green sturgeon to describe the relationship among know...

Serum complement is valuable tool in determining the health status of fish. This study was conducted to examine in vitro activity of serum complement as an indicator of innate immunity in four sturgeon species, Acipenser stellatus, A. baeri, A. nudiventris and Huso huso (Chondrostei: Acipenseridae). The Effects of different temperatures, concentrations and volumes of serum on alternative comple...

Sturgeons are considered as living fossils and have very high evolutionary, economical and conservation values. The multiploidy of sturgeon that has been caused by chromosome duplication may lead to the emergence of new microRNAs (miRNAs) involved in the ploidy and physiological processes. In the present study, we performed the first sturgeon miRNAs analysis by RNA-seq high-throughput sequencin...

The Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis Gray 1835) is an endangered anadromous sturgeon inhabiting the Yangtze River in China. In this study, the ultrastructure and morphology of spermatozoa was studied using transmission and scanning electron microscopy with a cryo-holder. The spermatozoon consisted of an elongated head with a distinct acrosome and nucleus region, a midpiece and a flagellum. ...

–Growth rates of juvenile lake sturgeon (initial weight 8 to 9 g, temperature 17.5° C), fed twice a day on brown worms for 56 days increased from -1.5% BW/d (% body wet weight/day) at zero ration to 2.6% BW/d at a ration of 13.2% BW/d. Maintenance ration was 1.6% BW/d. Fish fed larger rations had higher energy densities and lower water content. Appetite (average volitional daily food consumptio...

The anadromous Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) is endangered and listed among the first class of protected animals in China. The possible causes for the decline of this species are the effects of synthetic chemicals, and loss of critical habitat. Chinese sturgeon in the Yangtze River have accumulated triphenyltin (TPT) to 31-128 ng/g wet weigh (ww) in liver, which is greater than the conc...

Atlantic and shortnose sturgeons are highly valued for their eggs (caviar) and flesh, but stocks of both species are depleted. The shortnose sturgeon is listed as an endangered species, and a long-term (multidecade) moratorium on fishing for Atlantic sturgeon is specified in the recently updated fishery management plan of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Thus, identification, pr...

Channelization for navigation and flood control has altered the hydrology and bathymetry of many large rivers with unknown consequences for fish species that undergo riverine migrations. In this study, we investigated whether altered flow distributions and bathymetry associated with channelization attracted migrating Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) into commercial navigation channels, pote...