Meet the six Danube Dinosaurs
The Danube is a sturgeon diversity hotspot, with six of the in total twenty-five sturgeons being native to its waters. Each of these species has unique characteristics, morphology, feeding habits and needs to survive. This diversity makes it therefore extra complex for conservationists to revive populations and restore the river to meet their needs. Still, all sturgeons suffer from habitat impoundments by dams, pollution, illegal fishing and bycatch. Taking these pressures away is key to their long-term survival.
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The following information has been collected through the website: www.iucnredlist.org, www.danube-sturgeons.org and www.lb4sturgeon.eu, and the first five photos have been made available at the courtesy of the LIFEBoat4sturgeon team.
© Clemens Ratschan
Full name: Huso Huso
Age: up to 100 years
Length: up to 7.2 metres
Weight: up to 2 tonnes
Resident lower Danube.
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Uniqueness: Beluga is the biggest freshwater fish, with long-lived adults becoming as large as great white sharks.
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© BOKU
Full name: Acipenser nudiventris
Age: up to 30 years
Length: 2.2 metres
Weight: 80 kg
Extinct in the Danube.
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Uniqueness: Ship sturgeons like to spend their time in deep stretches of rivers, the so-called benthos region.
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© Clemens Ratschan
Full name: Acipenser Guldenstaedtii
Age: up to 50 years
Length: 2.2 metres
Weight: 120 kg
Resident in lower Danube.
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Uniqueness: Russian sturgeons swim enormous distances, migrating in the past all the way to Bratislava.
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© Clemens Ratschan
Full name: Acipenser Ruthenus
Age: up to 26 years
Length: 1.2 metres
Weight: 16 kg
Resident in entire Danube.
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Uniqueness: Although the sterlet migrates large distances in the Danube, it does not swim out to the Black Sea.
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© Clemens Ratschan
Full name: Acipenser Stellatus
Age: up to 27 years
Length: 2.2 metres
Weight: 60 kg
Resident in lower Danube.
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Uniqueness: Since the stellate's raplid decline, it's caviar, known as sevruga, is the most valuable of caviar varieties.
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© Jean Francis Hellio and Nicolas van Ingen
Full name: Acipenser sturio
Age: up to 100 years
Length: up to 6 metres
Weight: up to 400 kg
Extinct in the Danube
Uniqueness: While historically found in rivers all across Europe, there is just one small population of European sturgeon left in the Garonne river in France.
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