Museums dedicate them and erect monuments, depict them on the arms, have long been revered as a very valuable and expensive commodity. Sturgeon caviar is considered a symbol of prosperity and wealth. How old is the sturgeon? Where does he live? What are the types of this fish? How much is left in our waters? Let's talk about this in our article.
How long does the sturgeon live?
Briefly, this question can be answered as follows: sturgeon is considered a delicious fish-longevity. The only exception is sterlet. Scientists with admiration answer the question how long the sturgeon lives: the life expectancy of some species of sturgeon reaches one hundred years. Rather, they could live to this age, if not for the man who thoughtlessly and mismanagedly catch this fish and profit from its sale.
How much sturgeon lives and its size
The sturgeon is a fairly large fish belonging to the class of ray-feathers, a subclass of cartilaginous ganoids. The high price and uniqueness of the representatives of this fish family is directly related to its size, structure and origin. The length of the body of the sturgeon sometimes reaches six meters, the maximum weight - 816 kg. The weight of the average sturgeon fish used for fishing is from 12 to 16 kg. The structural features of fish are directly related to its ancient origin.
About the structure of sturgeon
The question of how long the sturgeon lives deserves attention and respect. After all, according to experts, the sturgeon family has been living in water bodies since those ancient times, when there were no bony waterfowl in them. The structural features of the body of the sturgeon are associated with this.
The skeleton of the fish consists of cartilage, its spine is absent. Throughout life, the sturgeon maintains a chord. The presence of a cartilaginous chord, the basis of the axial skeleton, is directly related to how many years the sturgeon lives. The lack of vertebral bodies, according to scientists, testifies to its ancient origin, dating back to those times when there were no bony waterfowl in the water bodies of the earth. Answering the question how long sturgeons live in nature, scientists claim that this fish appeared in the water bodies of the Earth in the Cretaceous period, i.e., about 86-71 million years ago.
The structure of the fish has some interesting features: the body is elongated, devoid of scales, has a fusiform shape. It has five rows of diamond-shaped plate shields. In one row, located along the ridge, contains 10-20 such shields. The inner skeleton, consisting of cartilage, ends with a skull box. The head of the sturgeon is small, the muzzle is conical, elongated. Four antennae are located at the end (there is no fringe). The mouth is extended, the lips are rather fleshy, there are no teeth. Small fry teeth grow in sturgeon fry, but they fall out over time.
About the external features of the sturgeon
Often people are not only unaware of the question of how much sturgeon lives, but they don’t even know how this fish actually looks. They have to judge this, mainly observing those representatives of sturgeons that are exhibited in aquariums of large specialized stores.
Bone plates in the shape of stars are randomly scattered on the surface of the body of the sturgeon. The pectoral fin is quite rigid, the shape of the front ray resembles a thorn. On the dorsal fin, there are 27-51 rays extending to the caudal fin. The swimming bladder is well developed. The color of the surface of the body of the sturgeon is predominantly gray. However, on the back there may be patches of a lighter or grayish-black color. The sides are most often brown, the abdomen is white.
About habitats
Sturgeons are divided into subspecies of migratory, semi-migratory and freshwater fish. The main habitats are North America, Europe, as well as the north-temperate zone of Asia. Sturgeons are found both in slightly salted or salt water, and in fresh. Some sturgeons are inhabited by seas and lakes, but during spawning period they go exclusively to rivers.
About spawning
Often nature lovers ask: how long does the sturgeon live to give caviar? The majority of sturgeon representatives reach maturity quite late - males are ready to spawn at 5 - 18 years old, females - at 8 - 21 years old. The habitat plays a significant role in the puberty of the fish - the north the species lives, the later its representatives will begin to breed. Spawning of female sturgeon occurs once every three to five years. Spawning migration lasts from early spring to late fall.
About varieties of sturgeon
The genus of sturgeons is represented by seventeen species of fish, most of which are on the verge of extinction and are listed in the Red Book. The sturgeon species include the following species of fish that inhabit the territory of the former Soviet Union: beluga, kaluga, shovel, sterlet, spike, stellate sturgeon, Atlantic sturgeon, Pacific (Sakhalin), Russian, Persian (South Caspian), Amur, Siberian sturgeons, as well as three species pseudopatonos (large, small and pseudopatonos Fedchenko). About the largest of them - later in the article.
Siberian sturgeon
This large fish reaches two meters in length. The weight of one individual is about 210 kilograms. Fish are found mainly in Siberian rivers - from the Ob to the Kolyma. In addition, she also lives in the reservoirs of eastern Kazakhstan and on Lake Baikal. Representatives of this species live for 60 years. Sometimes Siberian sturgeon crosses with sterlet, resulting in a fish called a bonfire.
White sturgeon
This large fish is second only to the beluga in size. It has a fairly slender body, reaching a length of more than six meters. The mass of an individual can reach 800 kg. It feeds on crustaceans, lampreys, mollusks and fish. It lives in the Pacific Ocean, near the western coast of North America. This fish spawns in salty streams of rivers and in fresh waters.
Russian sturgeon
This is the first sturgeon species bred artificially. It has high value in the world due to the high quality of caviar and meat. How long does the sturgeon live? Representatives of this species are approximately 46 years old. Alas, the Russian sturgeon is on the verge of extinction. It differs from other species in its short and dull muzzle with antennae growing closer to its end. The length of an individual can reach two and a half meters, the weight is more than 115 kg. The standard weight of a representative of this species does not exceed 12-24 kg.
The diet of the fish depends on its habitat and consists mainly of worms, mysids, crayfish and fish: herring, mullet and shemai. Russian sturgeon is found in almost all large reservoirs of our country. Its main habitat is the Azov, Black and Caspian Seas.
Sakhalin sturgeon
This species is the most rare and poorly studied. The average body length of an adult is about one and a half meters, weight reaches 35-45 kg. Adult representatives of the species are distinguished by a large blunt muzzle and a green color. The diet consists of snails, mollusks, insect larvae, small fish and crustaceans. Sakhalin sturgeon is an inhabitant of the Sea of Okhotsk and Japan. Usually spawns in the Khabarovsk Territory.
Beluga
Such a question is often asked: how many sturgeon and beluga live - the largest representative of the sturgeon species?
Beluga, indeed, impresses with its external parameters. The body length of this fish sometimes reaches five meters; the beluga weighs more than one ton. It is the beluga that is the long-liver among all sturgeons, whose age can reach one hundred years. The results of archaeological excavations are known in which the remains of Beluga specimens from the Middle Ages are discovered. Their size exceeded six meters. At that time, fishermen often died if such a giant got into their gear. The Azov beluga reaches puberty earlier than other species: females - at the age of 12-14 years, males - at the age of 16-18 years. Other sturgeon species become sexually mature much later - at 14-23 (females) and 17-26 (males) years.
Beluga is considered the most prolific of all sturgeons. The largest individuals toss eggs up to 7.7 million eggs.
Kaluga
This species belongs to the largest freshwater. The length of an individual can reach 3.7 meters, weight - 380 kilograms, the century of life of this representative of the fauna is about 55 years. The maturity of Kaluga comes quite late: males mature at 17-19 years old, females at 18 to 23 years old. The fish is extremely prolific: the number of its eggs during spawning sometimes reaches four million pieces. The size of the eggs in kaluga reaches four millimeters in diameter.
Sterlet
This fish is the smallest freshwater representative of sturgeons: its length is about 1.2 meters and its weight is up to 16 kilograms. A huge number of side bugs (over 50), as well as the presence of fringed antennae, distinguish from other types of sterlet. Another interesting feature of this fish is the variability of the shape of the snout - it can be sharp and dull.
The stupid sterlet grows much faster, is more well-fed and prolific than its sharp-headed sister. A similar difference is also inherent in other freshwater sturgeons - Siberian and Amur.
Stellate sturgeon
Like all sturgeon species, stellate stellate sturgeon has a number of differences: it is easy to recognize by its rather long xiphoid muzzle (over 60% of the head length).
The body length reaches two and a half meters, weight - 80 kg. Stellate sturgeon is the most heat-loving among all migratory species, so it goes to spawn later than others, when the water temperature reaches a more suitable level. This species occupies one of the first places in terms of sturgeon fishing. The most actively harvested this valuable fish is in the Urals.
Atlantic sturgeon
This is one of the large migratory species of sturgeon. The length of the individual reaches three meters in length, and the weight is more than 200 kilograms. On the radically striated surface of the body of the Atlantic island there are many massive bugs, and the pectoral fin is equipped with a powerful bone beam. Unfortunately, this population, once large, today has approximately 1 thousand individuals. The main habitat is the Black Sea basin. Like all sturgeon species, the Atlantic sturgeon is of significant commercial value.
About the benefits and harms of sturgeon
The calorie content of sturgeon meat is about 160 kcal calories per 100 g of product. It contains a significant amount of easily digestible proteins, as a result of which this product is digested quickly enough. Sturgeon is often used in various diets, due to its rich content of rare acids useful for the body, vitamins C, PP, B and A, macronutrients of potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, as well as sodium, iron, chromium, nickel, iodine and fluorine.
Sturgeon caviar is distinguished by its saturation with lipids and protein. The calorie level of caviar exceeds meat in this indicator and is 200 kcal per 100 g of product. Therefore, it is recommended to use it for people during the recovery period after suffering serious illnesses.
Sturgeon, with regular use in food, has a beneficial effect on the state of the human cardiovascular system, reduces the risk of myocardial infarction and cholesterol in the blood, promotes the growth and strengthening of bone tissue, as well as improving the condition of the skin.
Despite the obvious benefits of sturgeon products, sturgeon meat can cause significant harm to the body. Sturgeon, as well as caviar, may be infected with the causative agent of botulism, so you must purchase these products exclusively from trusted suppliers. When buying, you should pay attention to their smell and appearance.
