📷 (c) Анна Голубева, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND) · CC BY NC ND
📷 (c) Сергей Викторович Леденков, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
📷 (c) Nadine Walter-Minauf, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
IUCN: Critically Endangered
Beluga Sturgeon
Huso huso
KingdomAnimalia›PhylumChordata›ClassActinopterygii›OrderAcipenseriformes›FamilyAcipenseridae›GenusHuso
About
Beluga sturgeons are long-lived anadromous fish that migrate from seas into large rivers to spawn. Their slow maturity and valuable roe made them extremely vulnerable to overfishing. Dams, poaching, habitat loss, and river fragmentation have left the species critically endangered.
Key Facts
⛰Habitat Large rivers, estuaries, and connected seas including Caspian and Black Sea basins
🍃Diet Carnivore — fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and occasionally waterbirds
📏Size & Weight Body often 2–4 m; exceptional individuals much larger
•weight Hundreds of kilograms; historically over 1,000 kg
⏳Lifespan 50–100 years
🗺Range Caspian, Black, Azov, and Adriatic Sea drainages, now highly reduced
Fish
Key Facts
⛰Habitat Large rivers, estuaries, and connected seas including Caspian and Black Sea basins
🍃Diet Carnivore — fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and occasionally waterbirds
📏Size & Weight Body often 2–4 m; exceptional individuals much larger
•weight Hundreds of kilograms; historically over 1,000 kg
⏳Lifespan 50–100 years
🗺Range Caspian, Black, Azov, and Adriatic Sea drainages, now highly reduced
Photo Credits
#1(c) Анна Голубева, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND) · CC BY NC ND
#2(c) Сергей Викторович Леденков, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) · CC BY NC
#3(c) Nadine Walter-Minauf, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) · CC BY NC
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