Acipenser gueldenstaedtii Brandt & Ratzeburg, 1833

Çiçek, Erdoğan, Jawad, Laith, Eagderi, Soheil, Esmaeili, Hamid Reza, Mouludi-Saleh, Atta, Sungur, Sevil & Fricke, Ronald, 2023, Freshwater fishes of Iraq: a revised and updated annotated checklist- 2023, Zootaxa 5357 (1), pp. 1-49 : 5

Acipenser gueldenstaedtii Brandt & Ratzeburg, 1833 [I]—Russian sturgeon

Taxonomy. Original description: Acipenser gueldenstaedtii Brandt & Ratzeburg, 1833: 13 , Pl. 3 (figs. 2, 2A–E) [Caspian Sea and tributaries; Black Sea; no types known].— Iraq synonyms: None.—Revisions: Berg (1948: 78).—Illustration: Kottelat & Freyhof (2007: 51, fig.).

Status in Iraq. First record from Iraq by Jawad et al. (2021).—Iraq materials: None.

Distribution and habitat. Distribution in Iraq: Euphrates River, west of Iraq.—General distribution: Eastern Atlantic; Europe and the Middle East: Basins of Sea of Marmara, Black Sea, Sea of Azov, and Caspian Sea and adjacent watersheds; introduced elsewhere.—Habitat: Marine habitat for this species includes shallow coastal and estuarine zones. In freshwater, it occurs in deep parts of large rivers with moderate to swift currents and spawns in strong currents (1–1.5 m /s) in large and deep rivers on a stone or gravel bottom. Freshwater, brackish, marine.

Economic importance. Commercially important.

Reasons of introduction. Aquaculture/research.

Conservation. Not relevant (introduced species).