Abstract
General biological characteristics and the contemporary status of the kaluga, Huso dauricus, and Amur sturgeon, Acipenser schrenckii, are described. Both inhabit the Amur River basin. Kaluga is the largest freshwater fish in this river system reaching more than 5.6 m in length and more than 1000 kg in weight. We recognize four populations of kaluga: the first is from the estuary of the Amur River and coastal brackish waters of the Sea of Okhotsk and Sea of Japan, the second is from the lower Amur River, the third is from the middle-Amur, and the fourth occurs in lower reaches of the Zeya and Bureya rivers. Freshwater and brackish water morphs exist in the estuary population, with the freshwater morph predominating in number. The number of individuals in the lower Amur River population at age 2 or greater was recently estimated to be 40 000, and in the middle Amur, 30 000. The population will continue to decline because of rampant overfishing. The Amur sturgeon is represented in the Amur River basin by two morphs: brown and gray. Brown morphs occur in the middle and lower parts of the Amur River; they grow more slowly than the gray ones. Today, the lower Amur River population of Amur sturgeon is made up of 95 000 fish at age 2 or greater and is approximately half as large as the population in the middle Amur River. Populations of kaluga and Amur sturgeon in the Zeya and Bureya rivers are extremely small and on the verge of extinction.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.
References cited
Amaoka, K. & K. Nakaya. 1975. First record of the kaluga sturgeon, Huso dauricus, from Japan. Japan. J. Ichthyol. 22: 164–166.
Artyukhin, E.N. & A.E. Andronov. 1990. A morphological study of the green sturgeon, Acipenser medirostris (Chondrostei, Acipenseridae), from the Tumnin (Datta) River and some aspects of the ecology and zoogeography of Acipenseridae. Zoologicheskii Zhurnal 69: 81–91 (in Russian, English translation J. Ichthyol. 30: 11–21).
Gritsenko, O.F. & G.M. Kostyunin. 1979. The Amur River white fish, Coregonus ussuriensis Berg, and kaluga, Huso dauricus (Georgi), in the Sakhalin island waters. Voprosy Ikhtiologii 19: 1125–1128 (in Russian).
Honma, Y. & H. Itano. 1994. A record of a great Siberian sturgeon, Huso dauricus, off Niigata, Sea of Japan (Osteichthyes: Acipenseridae). Japan. J. Ichthyol. 41: 317–321.
Khodorevskaya, R.P., G.F. Dovgopol, O.L. Zhuravleva & A.D. Vlasenko. 1997. Present status of commercial stocks of sturgeons in the Caspian Sea basin. Env. Biol. Fish. (this volume).
Kostarev, V.L. & B.V. Tyurnin. 1970. Kaluga in the waters of the north-western part of the Sea of Okhotsk. Izvestiya Tikhookeanskogo Nauchno-Issledovatelskogo Instituta Rybnogo Khozyaistva i Okeanografii 74: 346–247 (in Russian).
Krykhtin, M.L. 1972. Changes in the composition and abundance of populations of the kaluga, Huso dauricus (Georgi), and sturgeon, Acipenser schrencki Brandt, during the period of fishery closure in the Amur River Basin. Voprosy Ikhtiologii 12: 2–12 (in Russian).
Krykhtin, M.L. 1975. Growth of kaluga, Huso dauricus (Georgi), in the Amur River estuary. Izvestiya Tikhookeanskogo Nauchno-Issledovatelskogo Instituta Rybnogo Khoziaistva i Okenograpfii 98: 129–136 (in Russian).
Krykhtin, M.L. 1979. The modern state and perspectives of development of the sturgeon fishery in the Amur River Basin. pp. 68–74. In: Biological Foundations of Development of the Sturgeon Fishery in the Water Bodies of the USSR, Nauka Press, Moscow (in Russian).
Krykhtin, M.L. 1984a. On the causes of kaluga death in the Amur River estuary. pp. 163–164. In: Sturgeon Fishery in the Water Bodies of the USSR, Astrakhan (in Russian).
Krykhtin, M.L. 1984b. Comparative estimate of the rate of reproduction, natural loss, and size of populations of the Amur River fresh water fishes. Voprosy Ikhtiologii 24: 204–211 (in Russian).
Krykhtin, M.L. 1985. Ecological-physiological variability in the kaluga population of the Amur River estuary. pp. 105–196. In: Ecological Physiology and Biochemistry of Fishes, Vilnus (in Russian).
Krykhtin, M.L. 1986. The rate of sexual maturation and reproduction cycle of the kaluga, Huso dauricus (Georgi), in the Amur River estuary. Voprosy Ikhtiologii 26: 945–954 (in Russian).
Krykhtin, M.L. & E.I. Gorbach. 1986. Distribution and feeding of the kaluga in the Amur River estuary. pp. 161–162. In: Formation of Sturgeon Resources Under the Conditions of Complex Utilization of Water Resources, Astrakhan (in Russian).
Kryukov, N.A. 1894. Some data on the fishery in the Amur River Basin. Zapiski Priamurskogo Otdela Imperatorskogo Russkogo Geografitcheskogo Obshchestva, Vol. 1, Vypusk 1, St. Petersburg. 87 pp. (in Russian).
Lukyanenko, V.I., P.P. Geraskin, N.V. Bal & G.F. Metallov. 1979. Physiological-biochemical characteristics of the kaluga from the Amur River as an object of acclimatization in the southern regions of the USSR. Gidrobiologicheskii Zhurnal 15: 71–77 (in Russian).
Nedoshivin, A.Ya. 1928. Materials on the Don River fishery. Trudy Azovo-Chernomorskoi Nauchno-Promyslovoi Ekspeditsii 4: 1–175 (in Russian).
Nikolskii, G.V. 1956. Fishes of the Amur River Basin. USSR Academy of Sciences Press, Moscow. 552 pp. (in Russian).
Pravdin, I.F. 1966. Manual for studies of fishes. Pishchevaya Promyshlennost, Moscow. 376 pp. (in Russian).
Romeis, B. 1954. Microscopic technique. Izdatelstvo Inostrannoi Literatury, Moscow. 718 pp. (in Russian).
Shilin, N.I. 1995. Programme for conservation of Acipenser medirostris mikadoi in the Russian far east. pp. 262–267. In: A.D. Gershanovich & T.I.J. Smith (ed.) Proceedings of the International Symposium on Sturgeons, 6–11 September 1993, VNIRO Publishing, Moscow.
Soldatov, V.K. 1915. A study on the Amur River acipenserids. Materialy k Poznaniyu Russkogo Rybolovstva, Vol. 3, Vypusk 12, Petrograd. 415 pp. (in Russian).
Svirskii, V.G. 1967. The Amur River sturgeon and kaluga (taxonomy, biology, perspectives of recovery). Candidate Biol. Sci. Thesis, Far Eastern State University Press, Vladivostok. 31 pp. (in Russian).
Svirskii, V.G. 1968. Possible ways of the modern sturgeon status formation in connection with the ocean level fluctuations during the Quaternary. pp. 203–208. In: Problems of Oceanology, Far Eastern State University Press, Vladivostok (in Russian).
Svirskii, V.G. 1971. The Amur River sturgeon and kaluga. Uchenye Zapiski Dalnevostochnogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta 15: 19–33 (in Russian).
Svirskii, V.G. 1976a. Embryonic and postembryonic development of the Amur River acipenserids. pp. 8–20. In: Biology of Fishes in the Far East. Far Eastern State University Press, Vladivostok (in Russian).
Svirskii, V.G. 1976b. Hydrological characteristics of the Low Amur River and their role in reproduction of the Amur River sturgeon and kaluga. pp. 70–74. In: Biology of the Far Eastern Fishes, Far Eastern State University Press, Vladivostok (in Russian).
Svirskii, V.G. 1979. Degeneration of germ cells in the ovaries of the Amur River sturgeon and kaluga as the reflection of adaptive resistance of fishes to the extreme environmental factors. p. 170. In: Ecology, Physiology and Biochemistry of Fishes, Vol. 2, Astrakhan (in Russian).
Svirskii, V.G. 1984. Polypodium hydriforme (Coelenterata) in the Amur River acipenserids. Parasitology 18: 362–366 (in Russian).
Wei, Q., F. Ke, J. Zhang, P. Zhuang, J. Luo, R. Zhou & W. Yang. 1997. Biology, fisheries, and conservation of sturgeons and paddlefish in China. Env. Biol. Fish. (this volume).
Yukhimenko, S.S. 1963. Feeding of the Amur sturgeon, Acipenser schrencki Brandt, and kaluga, Huso dauricus (Georgi), in the lower reaches of the Amur River. Voprosy Ikhtiologii 3: 311–318 (in Russian).
Author information
Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Krykhtin, M.L., Svirskii, V.G. Endemic sturgeons of the Amur River: kaluga, Huso dauricus, and Amur sturgeon, Acipenser schrenckii. Environmental Biology of Fishes 48, 231–239 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007358027263
Issue Date:
- anadromy
- population
- hybridization
- endangered species
- poaching