Sturgeons and Paddlefishes: Order Acipenseriformes
The Order Acipenseriformes includes a few dozen primitive fish known as paddlefishes and sturgeons. In the US, both sturgeons and paddlefish are extremely rare.
Fish in the Order Acipenseriformes have cartilaginous endoskeletons, they lack a vertebral centrum and they have a spiral valve intestine.
Classification of Sturgeons and Paddlefishes
There are several living representatives of sturgeons and paddlefish in the world. The following list is from Fishbase.
Sturgeon
- Siberian and Baikal sturgeon – Acipenser baerii (two subspecies)
- Shortnose sturgeon – Acipenser brevirostrum
- Yangtze sturgeon – Acipenser dabryanus
- Lake sturgeon – Acipenser fulvenscens
- Russian sturgeon – Acipenser gueldenstaedtii
- Green sturgeon – Acipenser medirostris
- Sakhalin sturgeon – Acipenser mikadoi
- Japanese sturgeon – Acipenser multiscutatus
- Adriatic sturgeon – Acipenser naccarii
- Frigebarbel sturgeon – Acipenser nudiventris
- Gulf and Atlantic sturgeon – Acipenser oxyrinchus
- Persian sturgeon – Acipenser persicus
- Sterlet – Acipenser ruthenus
- Amur sturgeon – Acipenser schrenckii
- Chinese sturgeon – Acipenser sinensis
- Starry sturgeon – Acipenser stellatus
- European sturgeon – Acipenser sturio
- White sturgeon – Acipenser transmontanus
- Beluga sturgeon – Huso huso
- Kaluga sturgeon – Huso dauricus
- Pallid sturgeon – Scaphirhynchus albus
- Shovelnose sturgeon – Scaphirhynchus platorynchus
- Alabama sturgeon – Scaphirhynchus suttkusi
- Dwarf sturgeon – Pseudoscaphirhynchus hermanni
- Syr Darya sturgeon – Pseudoscaphirhynchus fedtschenkoi
- Amu Darya sturgeon – Pseudoscaphirhynchus kaufmanni
Paddlefishes
- American Paddlefish – Polyodon spathula
- Chinese Paddlefish – Psephurus gladius
Other good videos of paddlefish and sturgeons:
The following video shows the American Paddlefish on the Missouri River.
