Huso stellatus, Starry sturgeon : fisheries, aquaculture, aquarium

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Huso stellatus (Pallas, 1771)

Starry sturgeon
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Image of Huso stellatus (Starry sturgeon)
Huso stellatus
Picture by Hartl, A.

Russia / Russian Federation territory information

Common names: Sevryuga, Stellate sturgeon, Севрюга
Occurrence: native
Salinity: freshwater
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: The main spawning river is the Ural (Ref. 26334). Reported from the following river drainages: Don (Ref. 58293), Volga (Ref. 58297) and Kuban River (Ref. 58296). This has been translocated to areas within the country for aquaculture however, it failed to establish populations in areas where it has been transplanted to (Ref. 45022). Also Ref. 3561. EurRus
National Checklist:
Territory Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/rs.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Reshetnikov, Y.S., N.G. Bogutskaya, E.D. Vasil'eva, E.A. Dorofeeva, A.M. Naseka, O.A. Popova, K.A. Savvaitova, V.G. Sideleva and L.I. Sokolov, 1997
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Esturgeon étoilé, Esturión estrellado, Севрюга, ... more

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

Chondrostei (sturgeons) > Acipenseriformes (Sturgeons and paddlefishes) > Acipenseridae (Sturgeons)
Etymology: Huso: A Medieval Latin and Old High German word for sturgeon (Scharpf 2024).
More on author: Pallas.

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

Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; anadromous (Ref. 138126); depth range 10 - 100 m. Temperate; 10°C - 20°C (Ref. 2059); 61°N - 36°N, 13°E - 54°E

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

Eurasia: Caspian, Black, Azov and Aegean Seas, ascending rivers to spawn. Occurrence in Albania needs confirmation. Introduced in Aral Sea. Artificially propagated (Ref. 6866). Probably extirpated from Aegean Sea and related river basins (Ref. 113969).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 120 - ? cm
Max length : 250 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 98365); common length : 125 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3397); max. published weight: 80.0 kg (Ref. 9988); max. reported age: 29 years (Ref. 126409)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 40 - 46; Anal soft rays: 24 - 29. Snout long, pointed at tip. Lower lip not continuous, interrupted at center. Barbels short not reaching mouth but nearer to it than to tip of snout. Five rows of scutes, dorsal 11-14, lateral 30-36 on each side, ventral 10-11 on each side, with small bony stellate plates and smaller grains between main scute rows. Back dark grey to almost black, flanks lighter, belly white.
Body shape (shape guide): elongated; Cross section: circular.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

At the sea, it occurs in coastal and estuarine zones and forages on the bottom mostly on clayey sand and intensively in the middle and upper water layers (Ref. 59043). Found mainly near shore over sand and mud, stays at the bottom during the day and rises to the surface to feed at night. Feeds mainly on fish, also mollusks, crustaceans and worms (Ref. 3193). Spawns in strong-current habitats in main course of large and deep rivers, on stone or gravel bottom. Spawning also takes place on flooded river banks and if gravel bottom is not available, on sand or sandy clay. Juveniles stay in shallow riverine habitats during first summer (Ref. 59043). One of the three most important species for caviar; also utilized fresh and frozen; eaten pan-fried, broiled and baked (Ref. 9988). Overfishing at the sea for meat and caviar will soon cause extinction of the natural populations and their survival can only depend on stocking (Ref. 59043).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Bauchot, M.-L., 1987. Poissons osseux. p. 891-1421. In W. Fischer, M.L. Bauchot and M. Schneider (eds.) Fiches FAO d'identification pour les besoins de la pêche. (rev. 1). Méditerranée et mer Noire. Zone de pêche 37. Vol. II. Commission des Communautés Européennes and FAO, Rome. (Ref. 3397)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)

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

CITES

Appendix II: International trade monitored

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Appendix II: Migratory species conserved through agreements

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 (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Home ranges
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Territories
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
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Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genome
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
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Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
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References
References

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Identification keys | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | 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 | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 7.6 - 15.9, mean 13.1 °C (based on 66 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5005   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00537 (0.00330 - 0.00874), b=3.04 (2.90 - 3.18), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.5   ±0.2 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.06; tm=9; tmax=29; Fec=20,000-360,000).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (85 of 100). 🛈
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Moderate to high vulnerability (51 of 100). 🛈
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 16.8 [10.4, 28.3] mg/100g; Iron = 0.271 [0.168, 0.429] mg/100g; Protein = 17.8 [15.3, 20.4] %; Omega3 = 0.385 [0.222, 0.665] g/100g; Selenium = 23.5 [13.0, 45.4] μg/100g; VitaminA = 4.05 [1.55, 10.74] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.409 [0.299, 0.552] mg/100g (wet weight);