Freshwater fishes of Iraq: a revised and updated annotated checklist- 2023 Author Çiçek, Erdoğan Department of Biology, Faculty of Art and Sciences, Nevşehir Hacı BektaşVeli University, Nevşehir, Türkiye Author Jawad, Laith School of Environmental and Animal Sciences, Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand Author Eagderi, Soheil Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran Author Esmaeili, Hamid Reza Ichthyology and Molecular Systematics Research Laboratory, Zoology Section, Department of Biology, School of Science, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran Author Mouludi-Saleh, Atta Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran Author Sungur, Sevil Health Services Vocational School, Nevşehir Hacı BektaşVeli University, Nevşehir, Türkiye Author Fricke, Ronald Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde in Stuttgart, Rosenstein 1, 70191 Stuttgart, Germany text Zootaxa 2023 2023-10-17 5357 1 1 49 http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5357.1.1 journal article 273375 10.11646/zootaxa.5357.1.1 6073f32b-c27e-4504-b32f-d3a171422a77 1175-5326 10012543 7CDE221A-1E73-416D-A984-23E64D9451A6 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).