Acipenser sinensis, Chinese sturgeon : fisheries

Acipenser sinensis Gray, 1835

Chinese sturgeon
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Acipenser sinensis   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Acipenser sinensis
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Chondrostei (sturgeons) > Acipenseriformes (Sturgeons and paddlefishes) > Acipenseridae (Sturgeons)
Etymology: Acipenser: Latin, acipenser = sturgeon, 1853 (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Gray.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; anadromous (Ref. 131118). Temperate; 35°N - 2°S, 97°W - 132°E (Ref. 54266)

Distribution Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Northwest Pacific: China and Japan (Sagami Sea) (Ref. 4537). Reported from Korea (Ref. 12218). Pearl River and Chinese sea (Ref. 42845).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 346 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 52325); common length : 39.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 35840); max. published weight: 600.0 kg (Ref. 47439); max. reported age: 33 years (Ref. 52325)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 50 - 57; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 32 - 40. Body shields in 5 rows; dorsal shields 10 to 17.
Body shape (shape guide): elongated.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Fry can be found in slow moving waters, adults in deep waters (Ref. 12218). Used in Chinese medicine (Ref. 12166). Reported to reach a length of more than 3 meters (Ref. 109736).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Birstein, V.J., 1993. Sturgeons and paddlefishes: threatened fishes in need of conservation. Conserv. Biol. 7:773-787. (Ref. 6866)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2 (Global))

  Critically Endangered (CR) (A2bc); Date assessed: 15 September 2019

CITES

Appendix II: International trade monitored

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Appendix II: Migratory species conserved through agreements

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Fisheries: species profile; Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Territories
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genome
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Genetic Diversity
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
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Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

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Special reports

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: species profile; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index
(Ref. 82804) 		PD50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight a=0.00295 (0.00133 - 0.00656), b=3.18 (3.01 - 3.35), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level
(Ref. 69278) 		3.5   ±0.37 se; based on food items.
Generation time 12.1 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth studies.
Resilience
(Ref. 120179) 		Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (tm=9-26; tmax=33).
Fishing Vulnerability
(Ref. 59153) 		Very high vulnerability (79 of 100). 🛈
Price category
(Ref. 80766) 		Unknown.