Russian Sturgeon

Acipenser gueldenstaedtii About This Animal ON EXHIBIT: Rivers of the World in River Journey The Russian Sturgeon ranges from the Caspian, Black and Azov Sea basins. On average, they reach four feet nine inches in length, but have been known to grow to more than seven and a half feet and 250 pounds. This species is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, however, and is now very rare in the Black Sea basin, where its spawning sites have been lost due to dam construction. Estimates suggest the Russian Sturgeon wild native population has declined by 90 percent in the last three generations (about 45 years). The last natural population continues to migrate up the Danube and Rioni rivers to the Caspian Sea. Males reproduce for the first time between ages 8 and 13 years, females between 10 and 16 years.