The mRNA expression of growth hormone (GH) gene in early development stages of Siberian sturgeon was investigated using RT-PCR method. Samples were collected from unfertilized eggs up to 50 days post hatched (dph) larvae in 11 different times. Ribosomal protein L6 (RPL6) transcripts were used as the internal standard during quantification of GH mRNA expression. The results showed that the GH mR...

Diseases have been the bottle-neck to sustainable development of sturgeon cultivation. Bacterial septicemia that caused mass mortalities of sturgeons is still prevalent in Shanxi and Yunnan provinces in China. The epidemiology and pathogenicity of the disease were investigated. Four predominant isolates of bacteria were isolated from Siberian sturgeons (Acipenser baerii) suffering from bacteria...

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...

Challenges and regulations associated with handling fish during fisheries management activities have increased efforts to achieve U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for an immediate-release sedative for fish. The objectives of this study were to (1) identify the target concentration of AQUI-S 20E for sedation of Pallid Sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus to a handleable state followed by rapi...

A high resolution three-dimensional numerical model, COCIRM, was adapted and optimized to predict the potential impact of the Waneta Expansion Project (WEP) on the flow conditions at the confluence of the Columbia and Pend d’Oreille rivers. Flows in this confluence area represent important habitat features for white sturgeon, including the well-developed low-speed Waneta Eddy for sturgeon reari...

The objective of this study is to provide information on metabolic changes occurring in Chinese sturgeon (an ecologically important endangered fish) subjected to repeated cycles of fatigue and recovery and the effect on swimming capability. Fatigue-recovery cycles likely occur when fish are moving through the fishways of large dams and the results of this investigation are important for fishway...

During teleost ontogeny the larval and embryonic stages are key stages, since failure during this period of tissue differentiation may cause malformations, developmental delays, poor growth, and massive mortalities. Despite the rapid advances in sequencing technologies, the molecular backgrounds of the development of economically important but endangered fish species like the Atlantic sturgeon ...

The in vitro effect of 17α, 20β-Dihydroxyprogesterone on the maturation of Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus) oocytes for 7, 10, 12, 24 and 30th hours of incubation were investigated. Blood serum, testosterone (T), progesterone (P4) and 17-β estradiol concentrations were measured using enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA). The oocytes were incubated in SIS, RM2, L-15 and PSACF media in...

—During November 2002, 51 shovelnose sturgeon Scaphirhynchus platorynchus were sexed by ultrasound imaging using a portable ultrasonograph. We identified males with 96% accuracy (N 5 25) and females with 80% accuracy (N 5 25); one hermaphroditic individual was misidentified as a male. Overall, ultrasound imaging was 86% accurate. Sex in postspawned females was difficult to determine, 60% being ...

The aim of this study was to provide comprehensive insights into the genetic background of sturgeon by transcriptome study. We performed a de novo assembly of the Amur sturgeon Acipenser schrenckii transcriptome using Illumina Hiseq 2000 sequencing. A total of 148,817 non-redundant unigenes with base length of approximately 121,698,536 bp and ranges from 201 to 26,789 bp were obtained. All the ...