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Discrimination of Acipenser sturio, Acipenser oxyrinchus and Acipenser naccarii by Morphology of Bones and Osteometry

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Biology and Conservation of the European SturgeonAcipenser sturioL. 1758

Abstract

Studying ancient sturgeon populations according to archaeological remains requires the identification of the species through bone morphology. Osteometry makes it possible to determine the different sizes and age categories of ancient specimens by measuring specific bones which are correlated with the same measurements taken on modern specimens of known total length (TL) and mass. These references have been established for Acipenser sturio, Acipenser oxyrinchus (both attested in Europe from the Neolithic) and Acipenser naccarii, providing a set of morphological and osteometric criteria to discriminate the above-mentioned species. Through these methods, the size distribution of ancient sturgeons of different periods and locations can be reconstructed. The frequent presence of large-sized specimens of A. sturio and A. oxyrinchus on the French Atlantic and North basins strongly suggests their sympatry.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Corresponds to the slope independence test of a covariance analysis.

  2. 2.

    One can also read with interest and attention Rondelet’s review on the name attribution of the word silurus to the sturgeon in Ausone’s poem (“la Moselle”), an attribution which he reconsiders. The word “silurus” has sometimes been thought to be a synonym of sturgeon, but the translation of “Magne Silure”, according to Rondelet, refers to Silurus glanis, and not to sturgeon (unlike the opinion of his contemporary Paul Jove, 1531), which is also attested by today’s specialists. His review is also based on his excellent observation of the customs of these two species.

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Acknowledgements

I sincerely thank all those who supplied me with modern sturgeons of A. sturio, A. naccarii and A. oxyrinchus, and particularly the Cemagref, France; the fish farm Giovanini, Azienda Agricola V.I.P., Italy; the Osteotheque of the University of Montreal, Canada; and the company “Acadian Sturgeon and Caviar Inc.”, St John, Nouveau Brunswick, Canada.

I also thank JD Strich for the photographs, A Pasqualini for the infography of the illustrations (CEPAM/CNRS-University of Nice–Sophia Antipolis) and JM Paillard (“Starboard Silent Side”) for the revision of the English version of this paper.

Finally, I am very grateful to P. Williot for all his help with “my” sturgeons, from Canada to Bordeaux-Audenge.

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  1. Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis – CNRS-CEPAM-UMR 6130, SJA3, 24 avenue des Diables Bleus, 06357, NICE Cédex 4, France

    Nathalie Desse-Berset

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  1. Nathalie Desse-Berset
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Correspondence to Nathalie Desse-Berset .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. rue du Pas de Madame 4, Audenge, 33980, France

    Patrick Williot

  2. UR Ecosystemes Estuariens et Poissons Mi, Cemagref, Avenue de Verdun 50, Cestas cedex, 33612, France

    Eric Rochard

  3. CÉPAM, Labo. Archéologie, CNRS Valbonne, avenue Albert-Einstein 250, Valbonne, 06560, France

    Nathalie Desse-Berset

  4. Abt. Biologie und Ökologie der Fische, Humboldt-Universität Berlin, Philippstr. 13, Berlin, 10115, Germany

    Frank Kirschbaum

  5. Gewässerökologie und Binnenfischerei, Leibniz-Institut für, Müggelseedamm 310, Berlin, 12587, Berlin, Germany

    Jörn Gessner

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Desse-Berset, N. (2011). Discrimination of Acipenser sturio, Acipenser oxyrinchus and Acipenser naccarii by Morphology of Bones and Osteometry. In: Williot, P., Rochard, E., Desse-Berset, N., Kirschbaum, F., Gessner, J. (eds) Biology and Conservation of the European SturgeonAcipenser sturioL. 1758. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20611-5_3

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