Skip to main content
Log in

Intravital Sex Identification of Adult Sterlets Acipenser ruthenus (Acipenseridae) Based on the Morphological Structure of Dorsal Scutes

  • Published:
Journal of Ichthyology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We studied the morphological structure of dorsal scutes in adult individuals of Acipenser ruthenus. We determined the morphometric indices of scutes, the values of which are different in males and females. We created a system for sex identification in sterlets based on indices and criteria indicative of the shape of the first five scutes. The results can be used for developing a method for intravital sex identification in sturgeons at earlier stages of development.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barulin, N.V., Serum enzyme response of captive sturgeon brookstock Acipenser baerii Brandt 1869 females and two hybrids (bester = female Huso huso Linnaeus, 1758 × male Acipenser ruthenus Linneaus, 1758, and RsSs = A. gueldenstaedtii Brandt 1833 × A. baerii Brandt 1869) to hormonal stimulation for spawning induction, J. Appl. Ichthyol., 2015, vol. 31, pp. 2–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bronzi, P. and Rosenthal, H., Present and future sturgeon and caviar production and marketing: a global market overview, J. Appl. Ichthyol., 2014, vol. 30, pp. 1536–1546.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chebanov, M.S. and Galich, E.V., Sturgeon hatchery manual, in FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper No. 558, Ankara: Food Agric. Org., 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiotti, J.A., Boase, J.C., Hondorp, D.W., and Briggs, A.S., Assigning sex and reproductive stage to adult lake sturgeon using ultrasonography and common morphological measurements, North Am. J. Fish. Manage., 2016, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 21–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Desse-Berset, N. and Williot, P., Emerging questions from the discovery of the long-term presence of Acipenser oxyrinchus in France, J. Appl. Ichthyol., 2011, vol. 27, pp. 263–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Du, H., Zhang, X., Leng, X., et al., Gender and gonadal maturity stage identification of captive Chinese sturgeon, Acipenser sinensis, using ultrasound imagery and sex steroids, Gen. Comp. Endocrinol., 2016. doi 10.1016/j.ygcen.2016.08.004

    Google Scholar 

  • Esturgeons et Caviar, Billard, R., Ed., Paris: Lavoiser, 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Falahatkar, B. and Poursaeid, S., Gender identification in great sturgeon (Huso huso) using morphology, sex steroids, histology and endoscopy, Anat. Histol. Embryol., 2014, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 81–89.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Falahatkar, B., Akhavan, S.R., Tolouei Gilani, M.H., and Abbasalizadeh, A., Sex identification and sexual maturity stages in farmed great sturgeon, Huso huso L. through biopsy, Iran. J. Vet. Res., 2013, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 133–139.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, J., The R commander: a basic statistics graphical user interface to R, J. Stat. Software, 2005, vol. 14, no. 9, pp. 1–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurvitz, A., Jackson, K., Degani, G., and Levavi-Sivan, B., Use of endoscopy for gender and ovarian stage determinations in Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii) grown in aquaculture, Aquaculture, 2007, vol. 270, pp. 158–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu, X., Webb, M., Talbott, M., et al., Distinguishing ovarian maturity of farmed white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy: a potential tool for caviar production management, J. Agric. Food Chem., 2010, vol. 58, no. 7, pp. 4056–4064.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mal’tsev, A.V. and Merkulov, Ya.G., A biometric method for determining the sex of acipenserids, including the Russian sturgeon Acipenser gueldenstaedtii (Acipenseridae) of the Azov population, J. Ichthyol., 2006, vol. 46, no. 6, pp. 460–464.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsche, M.A., Bakal, R.S., and Rosemary, K.M., Use of laparoscopy to determine sex and reproductive status of short-nose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) and Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus), J. Appl. Ichthyol., 2011, vol. 27, pp. 627–636.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mosyagina, M.V. and Zelennikov, O.V., State of steroid secretory cells and concentration of gonadal steroid hormones in the blood plasma of Siberian sturgeon Acipenser baerii and sterlet A. ruthenus (Acipenseridae) during sex differentiation, J. Ichthyol., 2016, vol. 56, no. 1, pp. 141–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Munhofen, J.L., Jimenez, D.A., Doug, L., et al., Comparing ultrasonography and endoscopy for early gender identification of juvenile Siberian sturgeon, North Am. J. Aquacult., 2014, vol. 76, pp. 14–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Podushka, S.B., Gender-dependent differences in the shape of paired finds of Amur sturgeon, Osetrovoe Khoz., 2008, no. 2, pp. 69–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pohlert, T., The Pair wise multiple comparison of mean ranks package (PMCMR). R package 2014. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=PMCMR.

    Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team, R: a language and environment for statistical computing, R foundation for statistical computing, 2016. https://www.R-project.org/.

  • Thieren, E., Wouters, W., and van Neer, W., Guide for the identification of archaeological sea sturgeon (Acipenser sturio and A. oxyrinchus) remains, Cybium, 2015, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 175–192.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trusov, V.Z., Determination of degree of maturity of the gonads of sturgeon females, Rybn. Khoz., 1964, no. 1, pp. 26–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vecsei, P., Litvak, M.K., Noakes, D.L.G., et al., A noninvasive technique for determining sex of live adult North American sturgeons, Environ. Biol. Fish, 2003, vol. 68, pp. 333–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Venables, W.N. and Ripley, B.D., Modern Applied Statistics with S, New York: Springer-Verlag, 2002.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Vizziano-Cantonnet, D., Landro, S., Lasalle, A., et al., Identification of the molecular sex-differentiation period in the Siberian sturgeon, Mol. Reprod. Dev., 2016, vol. 83, no. 1, pp. 19–36.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Webb, M.A.H., Feist, G.W., Foster, E.P., et al., Potential classification of sex and stage of gonadal maturity of wild white sturgeon using blood plasma indicators, Trans. Am. Fish. Soc., 2002, vol. 131, pp. 132–142.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wei, T. and Simko, V., Corrplot: visualization of a correlation matrix, R package/Version 0.77, 2016. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=corrplot.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wuertz, S., Reiser, S., Gessner, J., and Kirschbaum, F., Morphological distinction between juvenile stages of the European sturgeon Acipenser sturio and the Atlantic sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus, in Biology and Conservation of the European Sturgeon Acipenser sturio L. 1758. The Reunion of the European and Atlantic Sturgeons, Williot, P.,, Eds., New York: Springer-Verlag, 2011, pp. 53–64.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Zhivotovsky, L.A. and Kim, H.Y., Morphological markers of sex in pink salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha (Salmonidae), J. Ichthyol., 2015, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 131–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to N. V. Barulin.

Additional information

Original Russian Text © N.V. Barulin, 2018, published in Voprosy Ikhtiologii, 2018, Vol. 58, No. 1, pp. 11–24.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Barulin, N.V. Intravital Sex Identification of Adult Sterlets Acipenser ruthenus (Acipenseridae) Based on the Morphological Structure of Dorsal Scutes. J. Ichthyol. 58, 17–30 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945218010022

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945218010022

Keywords

Navigation