Beluga sturgeon
Encyclopedia
The beluga bəˈluːɡə or European sturgeon (Huso huso) is a species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of anadromous fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

 in the sturgeon
Sturgeon
Sturgeon is the common name used for some 26 species of fish in the family Acipenseridae, including the genera Acipenser, Huso, Scaphirhynchus and Pseudoscaphirhynchus. The term includes over 20 species commonly referred to as sturgeon and several closely related species that have distinct common...

 family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 (Acipenseridae) of order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...

  Acipenseriformes
Acipenseriformes
Acipenseriformes are an order of primitive ray-finned fishes that includes the sturgeons and paddlefishes, as well as some extinct families.Notable characteristics of Acipenseriformes include:* Cartilaginous endoskeleton* Lack of vertebral centrum...

. It is found primarily in the Caspian
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...

 and Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

 basins, and occasionally in the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...

. Heavily fished for the female's valuable roe
Roe
Roe or hard roe is the fully ripe internal egg masses in the ovaries, or the released external egg masses of fish and certain marine animals, such as shrimp, scallop and sea urchins...

—known as beluga caviar
Beluga caviar
Beluga caviar is caviar consisting of the roe of the beluga sturgeon Huso huso. It is found primarily in the Caspian Sea, the world’s largest salt-water lake, which is bordered by Iran and the former Soviet socialist republics of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan. It can also be...

— the beluga is a huge and late-maturing fish that can live for 118 years. The species' numbers have been greatly reduced by overfishing
Overfishing
Overfishing occurs when fishing activities reduce fish stocks below an acceptable level. This can occur in any body of water from a pond to the oceans....

 and poaching
Poaching
Poaching is the illegal taking of wild plants or animals contrary to local and international conservation and wildlife management laws. Violations of hunting laws and regulations are normally punishable by law and, collectively, such violations are known as poaching.It may be illegal and in...

, prompting many governments to enact restrictions on its trade. The most similar to the Huso huso Beluga is the Huso dauricus Kaluga
Kaluga (fish)
The Kaluga is a large predatory sturgeon found in the Amur River basin. Also known as the River Beluga, they are claimed to be the largest freshwater fish in the world, with a maximum size of at least 1,000 kg and 5.6 m . Like the slightly larger Beluga, it spends part of its life in...

, also referred to as the "River Beluga".

The common name for the sturgeon, as for the unrelated beluga whale, is derived from the Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

 word белый (belyy), meaning "white".

Behaviour

The beluga is a large predator which feeds on other fish.

As do many sturgeons, the beluga travels upstream in rivers to spawn
Spawn (biology)
Spawn refers to the eggs and sperm released or deposited, usually into water, by aquatic animals. As a verb, spawn refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, also called spawning...

. Accordingly, sturgeons are sometimes likened to sea fish; however most scientists consider them to be river fish.

Size

The largest generally accepted record is of a female taken in 1827 in the Volga estuary at 1571 kg (3,463.5 lb) and 7.2 m (23.6 ft). There are several other records of aged sturgeon exceeding 5 m (16.4 ft). These great sizes mark the beluga as the largest
Largest organisms
The largest organism found on Earth can be measured using a variety of methods. It could be defined as the largest by volume, mass, height or length. Some organisms group together to form a superorganism, though this cannot truly be classed as one large organism...

 freshwater
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...

 fish in the world and as a rival in enormity to the Ocean Sunfish
Ocean sunfish
The ocean sunfish, Mola mola, or common mola, is the heaviest known bony fish in the world. It has an average adult weight of . The species is native to tropical and temperate waters around the globe. It resembles a fish head with a tail, and its main body is flattened laterally...

 among all extant bony fish. The giant belugas are much larger than the Mekong giant catfish
Mekong giant catfish
The Mekong giant catfish, Pangasianodon gigas, is a species of catfish in the shark catfish family , native to the Mekong basin in Southeast Asia.-Species characteristics:...

 or the Arapaima
Arapaima
The arapaima, pirarucu, or paiche is a South American tropical freshwater fish. It is a living fossil and one of the largest freshwater fishes in the world.-Anatomy and morphology:...

. Nevertheless, some scientists still consider the Mekong giant catfish to be the largest true freshwater fish, owing to sturgeons' ability to survive in seawater
Seawater
Seawater is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% . This means that every kilogram of seawater has approximately of dissolved salts . The average density of seawater at the ocean surface is 1.025 g/ml...

 and that it spends much of its life in brackish environments.

Beluga of such great sizes are always very old (continuing to grow throughout life) and have become increasingly rare in recent decades due to the heavy fishing of this species. Today, Belugas that are caught are generally 142–328 cm (4.7–10.8 ft) long and weigh 19–264 kg (41.9–582 lb). The female beluga is typically 20% larger than the male.

Caviar

Beluga caviar
Beluga caviar
Beluga caviar is caviar consisting of the roe of the beluga sturgeon Huso huso. It is found primarily in the Caspian Sea, the world’s largest salt-water lake, which is bordered by Iran and the former Soviet socialist republics of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan. It can also be...

 is considered a delicacy worldwide. The meat of the beluga, on the other hand, is not particularly renowned. Beluga caviar has long been scarce and expensive. The endangered status of the fish has made its caviar more expensive than before.

Status

IUCN classifies the beluga as critically endangered
Critically endangered
Version 2010.3 of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 3744 Critically Endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and subpopulations.Critically Endangered by kingdom:*1993 Animalia*2 Fungi*1745 Plantae*4 Protista-References:...

. It is a protected species listed in appendix III of the Bern Convention and its trade is restricted under CITES appendix II. The Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

 population is strongly protected under appendix II of the Bern Convention, prohibiting any intentional killing of these fish.

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...

 has banned imports of Beluga Caviar and other beluga products from the Caspian Sea since October 6, 2005.

The United States banned import of beluga caviar
Beluga caviar
Beluga caviar is caviar consisting of the roe of the beluga sturgeon Huso huso. It is found primarily in the Caspian Sea, the world’s largest salt-water lake, which is bordered by Iran and the former Soviet socialist republics of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan. It can also be...

 in 2006 after listing beluga sturgeon under the U.S. Endangered Species Act
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is one of the dozens of United States environmental laws passed in the 1970s. Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973, it was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and...

.
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