Subspecies
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The
populations in the Sea of Azov, and those in the Black Sea have
previously been regarded as separate subspecies. Currently, however,
these are not generally recognized. I do not recognize subspecies here
and list all names in the synonymy below.
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Synonyms
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Acipenser huso Linnaeus, 1758
Ichthyocolla huso (Linnaeus, 1758)
Huso huso (Linnaeus, 1758)
Huso huso huso (Linnaeus, 1758)
Acipenser beluga albula Forster, 1767 (p. 354)
Huso ichthyocolla Bonaparte, 1845 (or 1846?) (nomen nudum)
Acipenser vallisnerii Molin, 1853
Huso huso maeoticus Salnikov et Malyatskii, 1934
Huso huso ponticus Salnikov et Malyatskii, 1934
Huso huso ponticus occidentalis Salnikov et Malyatskii, 1934 (infrasubspecific)
Huso huso ponticus orientalis Salnikov et Malyatskii, 1934 (infrasubspecific)
Huso huso caspicus Babushkin, 1942
Huso huso caspicus curensis Babushkin, 1942 (infrasubspecific)
Huso huso orientalis Lelek, 1987 (making the name available)
Note: The name "Acipenser beluga" is often attributed to Forster (1767),
but this name has never been described by Forster. He described
"Acipenser Beluga f. Albula", but without describing a nominate form.
Note: The vernacular Russian name for the Spiny sturgeon Acipenser
nudiventris is "Ship". This species occurs in the Black Sea and the
Caspian Sea and its tributaries and has not been recorded from Germany.
This vernacular name has found its way into scientific naming of
sturgeons rather early. The earliest account is Acipenser shyp (as
"Acipenser Shyp") by Forster (1767)
(p. 353). However, most authors do not regard this name as a synonym of
Acipenser nudiventris, but of Huso huso. This is probably incorrect,
because the original description does not differ from the descriptions
of the other sturgeon species known to Forster and thus the name cannot
be attributed to any species. The definition reads "rostro elongato,
acuminato, recto. Cirri 4 ante os" (rostrum elongated, pointed,
straight, Four cirri before the mouth). This is identical to all other
sturgeon species in his book except for "Acipenser Sturio". The only
difference of "Acipenser Shyp" given by Forster is "carne minus sapido"
(meat of inferior taste) which is not an objective character. Finally he
adds "a me non visus" (not seen by me), which indicates that he wanted
to describe the fish usually called "Ship" by local fishermen, but did
not have a specimen, so he described the fish from his memory or based
on descriptions from fishermen. Thus, I suggest that the name Acipenser
shyp should be regarded as a nomen dubium and probably a synonym of
Acipenser nudiventris.
Acipenser schypa Gmelin, 1789
(p. 1484) is another attempt to adopt the vernacular name "Ship" for
scientific nomenclature, but this name is often also placed in the
synonymy of Huso huso, not in the synonymy of Acipenser nudiventris.
This is probably incorrect, as well. It must be noted that Gmelin
misidentified most of the species of his genus Acipenser. He describes
"Acipenser Schypa" with "rostro obtuso" (i.e. blunt rostrum), but this
does neither apply to Huso huso nor to Acipenser nudiventris, both
having a pointed rostrum. Gmelin also lists a "Acipenser Huso", but this
cannot be Huso huso as understood today, because he writes: "rostro
obtusissimo" (rostrum totally blunt) and "labiis integris" (lips
undivided), which does not apply to Huso huso. The name "Acipenser
Schypa" as used by Gmelin, probably refers to Acipenser gueldenstaedtii
or Acipenser persicus (not recorded from Germany). "Acipenser Sturio"
appears to be identified correctly by Gmelin, but "Acipenser ruthenus"
and "Acipenser stellatus" are described as "labiis integris" (undivided
lips), which is not the case in true Acipenser ruthenus and Acipenser stellatus. All these names in Gmelins book are therefore dubious.
Additional English names: Beluga sturgeon.
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Identification
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No information has been entered yet.
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Distribution
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No information has been entered yet.
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Biology
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No information has been entered yet.
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