ABSTRACT
Sturgeon are a primitive stock of teleost fish evolving approximately 250 million years ago and are a chondrostean fish in the Acipenseriformes order. 1 There are 23 species in the sturgeon family; 2 species in Huso, 2 species in Scaphirhynchus, 3 species in Pseudoscaphirhynchus, and 16 species in Acipenser. 2 Some species are marine, some go into fresh water to spawn, and some are landlocked in fresh water. Beluga sturgeon (H. huso) is the largest freshwater fish and a maximum body weight of 2000 kg has been reported. White sturgeon (A. transmontanus) is the largest among North American species, and a record weight of 816 kg has been reported. Shovelnose (P. kaufmanni, P. hermanni, and P. fedschenkovi) in the Aral Sea are the smallest sturgeon, with a maximum weight of 0.5 kg. 3 These fish are found only in the northern hemisphere and live mainly in temperate water, but can be found from the Arctic Circle to the subtropics. 2
