EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: All living organisms shed DNA into the environment. Recent studies have demonstrated that environmental water samples can be effectively assayed for the DNA of target organisms. The DNA contained in these samples is commonly referred to as environmental DNA or eDNA. Because DNA assays can be sensitive to very small amounts of genetic material, eDNA surveys have the potential ...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: All living organisms shed DNA into the environment. Recent studies have demonstrated that environmental water samples can be effectively assayed for the DNA of target organisms. The DNA contained in these samples is commonly referred to as environmental DNA or eDNA. Because DNA assays can be sensitive to very small amounts of genetic material, eDNA surveys have the potential ...

Hematological parameters are suitable biomarkers for evaluating the potential risk of the chemicals. The aim of this study was to investigate of acute crude oil exposure on basic physiological functions of Persian sturgeon, Acipenser persicus. 210 juvenile Persian sturgeon (9.4 ± 1g) were supplied by the Rajaei fish farm in Mazandaran Province, Iran.  Juveniles were exposed to the crude oil (15...

To determine the genetic origin of individual sturgeon that are morphologically intermediate to pallid (Scaphirhynchus albus) and shovelnose (Scaphirhynchus platorhynchus) sturgeon, we combined previously published mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and microsatellite data with additional microsatellite data. Two sympatric populations of pallid and shovelnose sturgeon from the upper Missouri River and a...

Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus, Acipenseridae) populations are currently at severely depleted levels due to historic overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution. The importance of biologically correct stock structure for effective conservation and management efforts is well known. Recent improvements in our understanding of Atlantic sturgeon migrations, movement, and the occurr...

Two studies were conducted using 5to 6-month-old juvenile (mean weight: 3-4 g) white sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus, to examine the cffects of density and other stressors on manifestation of disease caused by the white sturgeon iridovirus (WSIV). In the first study, replicate groups of Snake River white stur con 5 . were stocked at three densities (953, 1,907, and 3,178 fishlm ) In 0.3 I-m3 ...

The green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) is a highly migratory, oceanic, anadromous species with a complex life history that makes it vulnerable to species-wide threats in both freshwater and at sea. Green sturgeon population declines have preceded legal protection and curtailment of activities in marine environments deemed to increase its extinction risk. Yet, its marine habitat is poorly un...

Little is known of the swimming capacities of larval sturgeons, despite global population declines in many species due in part to fragmentation of their spawning and rearing habitats by man-made water-diversion structures. Larval green (Acipenser medirostris) and white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) inhabit the highly altered Sacramento-San Joaquin watershed, making them logical species to ...