Past and current status of sturgeons in the upper and middle Danube River |
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Authors: | Karol Hensel Juraj Holčík |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Zoology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Mlynská dolina B-1, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia;(2) Department of Ichthyology, Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 842 06 Bratislava, Slovakia |
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Abstract: | Of the six species of sturgeons native to the Danube basin, five occurred in the upper and middle Danube. Among anadromous sturgeons were the large winter races of beluga, Huso huso, Russian sturgeon, Acipenser gueldenstaedtii, and stellate sturgeon, A. stellatus, which ascended the middle, and sometimes also the upper Danube, to spawn. Due to overfishing, followed by severe habitat alteration including damming and pollution, these anadromous sturgeons are critically endangered or extirpated from the upper and middle Danube. Acipenser gueldenstaedtii and A. nudiventris are represented only as resident non-migratory races with very small populations. The most abundant and widely distributed species is the sterlet, A. ruthenus, although it is presently limited to the middle Danube. Its population increased in some sections of the middle Danube during the past 15 years, presumably because of improving water quality, but this species remains at risk because of continuing habitat degradation. |
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Keywords: | Huso huso Acipenser nudiventris A stellatus A gueldenstaedti A ruthenus anadromy Romania Serbia Croatia Hungary Slovakia Austria Germany |
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