Sterlet
The sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus) is a small sturgeon, rarely longer than a meter, that lives entirely in fresh water in rivers of Eastern Europe and Siberia, including the Danube and Volga. It is listed as Endangered (2022).
The sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus) is a small sturgeon, rarely longer than a meter, that lives entirely in fresh water in rivers of Eastern Europe and Siberia, including the Danube and Volga. It is listed as Endangered (2022).
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Sterlet in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Vertebrates lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
A Sturgeon That Stays Home
Most sturgeons migrate from the sea to the rivers to spawn, but the sterlet spends its whole life in fresh water. It eats insect larvae, mollusks and crustaceans from the river bottom with a protrusible, toothless mouth.
Early Maturity and Hybrids
The sterlet matures much younger than large sturgeons, and is bred in aquaculture. It can hybridize with the beluga to create the "bester", a farmed sturgeon.
Rivers Under Pressure
Dams, pollution and fishing have reduced sterlet numbers. See Beluga Sturgeon.
Sterlet at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Acipenser ruthenus |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Actinopterygii |
| Order | Acipenseriformes |
| Family | Acipenseridae |
| Field Guide group | Marine and Freshwater Fish |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Small, long-snouted river fish with five rows of bony scutes and fringed barbels that drag along the bottom. |
| IUCN Red List status | Endangered (EN), assessed 2022 |
| Habitat | Freshwater rivers |