Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Family : Sturgeons ; Inhabit shallow waters of continental shelf. Ascend coastal rivers to spawn . Eggs demersal , measuring 2.55 mm in diameter and hatching in 1 week at 17.8¦C[1]. Juveniles may remain in fresh or brackish water until 3-5 years of age or 76-91.5 cm long[2]. Females take 8 to 30 years to reach sexual maturity and spawn only every 3-4 years. Exact time of spawning depends on temperature [3]. Used smoked and fresh[4].

Near Threatened

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Physical Description

Habitat

Typically found in a lake at a mean distance from sea level of -6 meters (-19 feet).[5]

Ecology: The Atlantic sturgeon (A. o. oxyrinchus) is a large anadromous species that historically ranged along the Canadian and U.S. Atlantic Coast from Labrador to Florida. This subspecies is recorded to live for up to 60 years and reach a size of 4.3 m and 368 kg (Vladykov and Greely 1963), though most mature fish are considerably smaller. Spawning occurs in fresh or slightly brackish water when water temperatures reached 13–18?C. Migrations into coastal tidal rivers begin as early as February in the southern portion of the range and continue through June and July in northernmost waters. In the mid-Atlantic area, Atlantic sturgeon males mature at 6–10 years and females at 10–20 years (ASMFC 1990). Maturation occurs earlier in southern waters and later in Canada. Spawning periodicity ranges from 2–6 years. Based on tagging studies ocean migrations of up to 1,450 km have been recorded (Dovel and Berggren 1983).[6].

List of Habitats :

•     5     Wetlands (inland)   
  
•     5.1     Wetlands (inland) - Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls )   
  
•     9     Marine Neritic   
  
•     9.10     Marine Neritic - Estuaries   
  
•     10     Marine Oceanic   
  
•     10.1     Marine Oceanic - Epipelagic (0-200m)   
  
•     15     Artificial/Aquatic & Marine   
  
•     15.3     Artificial/Aquatic - Aquaculture Ponds   
[more info]

Biology

Migration

Anadromous .

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Acipenser oxyrhynchus Mitchill • Acipenser oxyrinchus Mitchill

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Synonym: Acipenser oxyrhynchus. Latest taxonomic scrutiny: March 18, 1997.

Other common names : German: Atlantischer Stör, French: Esturgeon noir, French: Esturgeon noir d'Amérique, Czech: Jeseter ostrorypý, Polish: Jesiotr ostronosy, Finnish: Sinisampi, Swedish: Stör, Danish: Vestatlantisk stør

Similar Species

Members of the genus Acipenser

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 36 species and subspecies in this genus:

A. baerii (Long-Nosed Siberian Sturgeon) · A. baerii baerii (Lena River Sturgeon) · A. baerii baicalensis (Baikal Sturgeon) · A. baerii baikalensis (Baikal Sturgeon) · A. baerii stenorrhynchus (Lena River Sturgeon) · A. baeri stenorrhynchus (Lena River Sturgeon) · A. brevirostris (Short-Nosed Little Sturgeon) · A. brevirostrum (Short-Nosed Little Sturgeon) · A. dabryanus (Dabry´s Sturgeon) · A. dauricus (Great Siberian Sturgeon) · A. fulvescens (Lake Sturgeon) · A. gueldenstaedti (Caspian Sturgeon) · A. gueldenstaedtii (Caspian Sturgeon) · A. gueldenstaedti brandt (Azov-Black Sea Sturgeon) · A. huso (European Sturgeon) · A. medirostris (Barbel Sturgeon) · A. mikadoi (Sakhalin Sturgeon) · A. multiscutatus (Japanese Sturgeon) · A. naccari (Adriatic Sturgeon) · A. naccarii (Adriatic Sturgeon) · A. nudiventris (American Atlantic Sturgeon) · A. oxyrhynchus (Atlantic Sturgeon) · A. oxyrhynchus oxyrhynchus (Atlantic Sturgeon) · A. oxyrinchus (American Atlantic Sturgeon) · A. oxyrinchus desotoi (Gulf Sturgeon) · A. oxyrinchus oxyrinchus (American Atlantic Sturgeon) · A. persicus (Persian Sturgeon) · A. plecostomus (Suckermouth Catfish) · A. ruthenus (Sterlet Sturgeon) · A. schrencki (Japanese Sturgeon) · A. schrenckii (Japanese Striped Loach) · A. sinensis (Chinese Sturgeon) · A. stellatus (Stellate Sturgeon) · A. stenorrhynchus (Long-Nosed Siberian Sturgeon) · A. sturio (Atlantic Sturegon) · A. transmontanus (Sacramento Sturgeon)

More Info

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Further Reading

• Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. 1990. Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Sturgeon. Fisheries Management Report No. 17, November 1990. ASMFC, Washington, D.C. 73 p.
• Baillie, J. and Groombridge, B. (compilers and editors) 1996. 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
• Baillie, J. and Groombridge, B. 1996. 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. International Union for Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland.
• Banks, R. C., R. W. McDiarmid, A. L. Gardner, and W. C. Starnes 2003. Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada.
• Barkuloo, J.M. 1988. Report on the conservation status of the Gulf of Mexico sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrhynchus desotoi. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Panama City, FL. 33 p.
• Bateman, D.H. and Brim, M.S. 1994. Environmental contaminants in Gulf sturgeon of Northwest Florida 1985-1991. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Publication. PCFO-EC 94-09. Panama City, FL. 23 p
• Bemis, William E., Eric K. Findeis, and Lance Grande 1997. An overview of Acipensiformes. Environmental Biology of Fishes, vol. 48. 25-71.
• Birstein, V.J. (1993). Sturgeons and paddlefishes: threatened fishes in need of conservation. Conserv. Biol. 7:773-787.
• Carl, G.C., W.A. Clemens and C.C. Lindsey (1959). The freshwater fishes of British Columbia (3rd revision). (Reprinted 1977). B.C. Prov. Mus. Handb. 5: 192 p.
• Caron, F. and Trembly, S. 1997. Structure and management of an exploited population of Atlantic sturgeon in the St. Lawrence Estuary, Quebec, Canada. Ministere de l’Environnement et de la Faune.
• Dovel, W.L. and Berggstrom, T.J. 1983. Atlantic sturgeon of the Hudson River Estuary, New York. New York Fish and Game Journal 30(2): 140-172.
• Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann (1983). A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 336 p.
• Eschmeyer, William N., ed. 1998. Catalog of Fishes. Special Publication of the Center for Biodiversity Research and Information, no. 1, vol 1-3. California Academy of Sciences. San Francisco, California, USA. 2905. ISBN: 0-940228-47-5.
• Fitch, J.E. and R.J. Lavenberg (1971). Marine food and game fishes of California. University of California Press, USA. 179 p.
• Fritzsch, B. and P. Moller (1995). A history of electroreception. p. 39-55. In P. Moller, Electric Fishes: history and behavior. Fish and Fisheries series 17. Chapman and Hall, London.
• Groombridge, B. (ed.) 1994. 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
• Groombridge, B. (ed.). 1994. 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
• Hart, J.L. (1973). Pacific fishes of Canada. Fish. Res. Board Can. Bull. 180:1-740.
• Hugg, D.O. (1996). MAPFISH georeferenced mapping database. Freshwater and estuarine fishes of North America. Life Science Software. Dennis O. and Steven Hugg, 1278 Turkey Point Road, Edgewater, Maryland, USA.
• IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre. 1986. 1986 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
• IUCN. 1990. 1990 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
• IUCN. 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 04 May 2006.
• International Game Fish Association (1991). World record game fishes. International Game Fish Association, Florida, USA.
• Jones, P.W., F.D. Martin and J.D. Hardy, Jr. (1978). Development of fishes of the Mid-Atlantic Bight. An atlas of eggs, larval and juvenile stages. Vol. 1. Acipenseridae through Ictaluridae. U.S. Fish Wildl. Ser. Biol. Serv. Program FWS/OBS-78/12. 336 p.
• Lorio, W. 2000. Proceedings of the Gulf of Mexico sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi) status of the subspecies workshop. Mississippi State University, Stennis Space Center, MS.
• Magnin, E. (1964). Croissance en longueur de trios esturgeons d'Amerique du Nord: Acipenser oxyrhynchus Mitchill, Acipenser fulvescens Rafinesque et Acipenser brevirostris Le Sueur. Verh. Int. Verein Limnol. 15:968-974.
• Morrow, J.E. (1980). The freshwater fishes of Alaska. University of. B.C. Animal Resources Ecology Library. 248p.
• Musick, John A. / Collette, Bruce B., and Grace Klein-MacPhee, eds. 2002. Sturgeons: Order Acipenseriformes. Bigelow and Schroeder's Fishes of the Gulf of Maine, Third Edition. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington, DC, USA. 83-88. ISBN: 1-56098-951-3.
• Nigrelli, R.F. (1959). Longevity of fishes in captivity, with special reference to those kept in the New York Aquarium. p. 212-230. In G.E.W. Wolstehnolmen and M. O'Connor (eds.) Ciba Foundation Colloquium on Ageing: the life span of animals. Vol. 5., Churchill, London.
• Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr (1991). A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 432 p.
• 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). An annotated check-list of the freshwater fishes of Russia. J. Ichthyol. 37(9):687-736.
• Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986). A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
• Robins, Richard C., Reeve M. Bailey, Carl E. Bond, James R. Brooker, Ernest A. Lachner, et al. 1980. A List of Common and Scientific Names of Fishes from the United States and Canada, Fourth Edition. American Fisheries Society Special Publication, no. 12. American Fisheries Society. Bethesda, Maryland, USA. 174.
• Smith, C.L. (1997). National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.
• Stabile, J., Waldman, J.R., Parauka, F. and Wirgin, I. 1996. Stock structure and homing fidelity in Gulf of Mexico sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi) based on restriction fragment length polymorphism and sequences analysis of mitochondrial DNA. Genetics 144: 767-775.
• Sulak, K.J. and Clugston, J.P. 1999. Recent advances in life history of Gulf of Mexico sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi, in the Suwannee River, Florida, USA: a synopsis. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 15:116-128.
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service (USFWS-NMFS). 1998. Status review of Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus). Special report submitted in response to a petition to list the species under the Endangered Species Act. Hadley and Gloucester, MA, September 1998.
• Vladykov, V.D. and Greely, J.R. 1963. Order Acipenseroidei. In: Fishes of the Western North Atlantic. Sears Foundation. Marine Research, Yale University, New Haven, CT. 1(3). 630p

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 9, 2012.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 14, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 12 providers.
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
• St. Pierre, R. (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service) 2006. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008.
• St. Pierre, R. 2005. Acipenser oxyrinchus ssp. oxyrinchus. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 14 January 2007.
• St. Pierre, R. 2006. Acipenser oxyrinchus ssp. oxyrinchus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 29January2012.

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 6195041
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Fis-60201
• Fishbase Species ID: 2593
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13598298
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 624004
• IUCN ID: 683
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: AFCAA01042
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 101312

Footnotes

1. Vladykov, V. and J. Greeley (1963). Order Acipenseroidei. Centr. Dept. des Pêcheries Quebec No. 53. 60 p. (also published in Mem. Sear Found. Mar. Res. 1:Part 3) [back]
2. Jones, P.W., F.D. Martin and J.D. Hardy, Jr. (1978). Development of fishes of the Mid-Atlantic Bight. An atlas of eggs, larval and juvenile stages. Vol. 1. Acipenseridae through Ictaluridae. U.S. Fish Wildl. Ser. Biol. Serv. Program FWS/OBS-78/12. 33 ... [back]
3. Smith, C.L. (1997). National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p. [back]
4. Bigelow, H.B., M.G. Bradbury, J.R. Dymond, J.R. Greeley, S.F. Hildebrand, G.W. Mead, R.R. Miller, L.R. Rivas, W.L. Schroeder, R.D. Suttkus and V.D. Vladykov (1963). Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Part three. New Haven, Sears Found. Mar. Res., Y ... [back]
5. Standard Deviation = 98.960 based on 37 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
6. St. Pierre, R. 2006. Acipenser oxyrinchus ssp. oxyrinchus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 29 January 2012. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.