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Acipenser gueldenstaedtii Brandt & Ratzeburg, 1833

Danube sturgeon
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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Acipenser gueldenstaedtii   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Acipenser gueldenstaedtii (Danube sturgeon)
Acipenser gueldenstaedtii
Picture by Hartl, A.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Chondrostei (sturgeons) > Acipenseriformes (Sturgeons and paddlefishes) > Acipenseridae (Sturgeons) > Acipenserinae
Etymology: Acipenser: Latin, acipenser = sturgeon, 1853 (Ref. 45335);  gueldenstaedtii: Named for Johann Anton Güldenstädt (1745-1781)..

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; anadromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 2 - 100 m, usually 10 - 25 m. Temperate; 10°C - 20°C (Ref. 2059); 61°N - 35°N, 26°E - 54°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eurasia: Black Sea, Sea of Azov and Caspian Sea basins. Introduced throughout Europe.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 236 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 59043); common length : 145 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3561); max. published weight: 115.0 kg (Ref. 6866); max. reported age: 46 years (Ref. 3561)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 27 - 48; Anal soft rays: 16 - 35. Under the name A. g. colchicus. Lower lip not continuous, interrupted at center. Five rows of scutes: dorsal 7-19, lateral 24-44 on each side, ventral 6-13 on each side, with lines of smaller stellate bony plates between the dorsal and ventral rows. Color of back olivaceous grey, flanks lighter, and belly white.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Anadromous and freshwater populations exist. At the sea, it occurs in shallow coastal and estuarine zones. In freshwaters, it inhabits deep parts of large rivers with moderate to swift current (Ref. 59043). Found mainly near the shore over sand and mud. Usually solitary, but swarms when hibernating or during spawning migrations. Occasionally forms schools (Ref. 3241). Feeds on benthic molluscs, crustaceans and small fishes. Spawns on stone or gravel bottom in large and deep rivers with strong current, 1-1.5 m/s (Ref. 59043). Mainly propagated through artificial reproduction.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Under the name A. g. colchicus. Spawns in rivers. Natural spawning not extensive, maintained chiefly by artificial propagation. Enters rivers from April to June (a few in autumn).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Sokolov, L.I. and L.S. Berdicheskii, 1989. Acipenseridae. p. 150-153. In J. Holcík (ed.) The freshwater fishes of Europe. Vol. 1, Part II. General introduction to fishes Acipenseriformes. AULA-Verlag Wiesbaden. 469 p. (Ref. 9953)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Critically Endangered (CR) (A2bcde); Date assessed: 14 September 2019

CITES


Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: commercial; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO - Aquaculture systems: production; Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
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Human related
Aquaculture systems
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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Aquaculture systems: production; Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 10.7 - 15.9, mean 13.8 °C (based on 32 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00437 (0.00268 - 0.00711), b=3.12 (2.99 - 3.25), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.3   ±0.1 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (tm=11; Fec = 26,000).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (87 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  High vulnerability (62 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 14.6 [8.4, 25.7] mg/100g; Iron = 0.247 [0.150, 0.396] mg/100g; Protein = 17.4 [14.9, 20.1] %; Omega3 = 0.342 [0.189, 0.611] g/100g; Selenium = 23.6 [12.0, 45.3] μg/100g; VitaminA = 5.63 [1.97, 16.00] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.512 [0.365, 0.722] mg/100g (wet weight);