Russian sturgeon
Acipenser gueldenstaedtii
Also known asOsetra sturgeon · Oscietra · Danube sturgeon
Water parameters
Minimum tank: 5000 L per individual at harvest size.
Feed and growth
- Feed protein
- 42% target
- Daily feed (warm)
- 1.00% of body weight
- Daily feed (cool)
- 0.40% of body weight
- Max density
- 45 g per litre
A 25000 g adult eats about 250.0 g of feed per day at optimum. 10 fish at adult size: ~2500 g daily.
Legality
Rules vary by jurisdiction and change over time. Verify with your local fisheries or wildlife authority before stocking.
| Jurisdiction | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| cites | permit required | CITES Appendix II; all international trade requires permits and proof of legal captive-bred origin verified 2026-05-14 |
Unlisted jurisdictions default to "check local regulations".
Origin and habitat
Native to the Caspian, Black and Azov sea basins and their feeder rivers, among them the Volga, Ural, Don and Danube, ranging through Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Turkmenistan. It is one of the most valuable sturgeons because its roe is sold as osetra caviar, a name taken from the Russian word for sturgeon, and among the priciest caviars on the market. The fish can reach about 2.35 m and 115 kg, though most run 110–140 cm, and it is very long-lived. Wild stocks have collapsed under overfishing, dams and pollution, and the IUCN lists the species as Critically Endangered, with trade controlled under CITES. Recent genetic work found the old genus Acipenser to be paraphyletic, and the species has been reassigned to Huso, though the name Acipenser gueldenstaedtii stays in wide use. Farming for caviar and meat has expanded since the 2000s, with operations in Europe, China, the Middle East and the Americas taking over much of what the Caspian fishery once supplied.
Climate and outdoor ponds
- Climate
- temperate (handles seasonal swings)
- USDA zones
- 4–8 (winter low around -34°C or warmer)
- Heating needed
- no
- Cooling needed
- no
Care notes
A long-horizon, high-investment species raised mainly for premium caviar, so it does not fit ordinary aquaponics, where the years of grow-out before a female yields roe are hard to justify. Meat is a secondary product: the flesh is firm, white and well flavoured. The fish handles a wide temperature span, roughly 4°C to 26°C, with steady growth in the high teens, and recirculating systems are the standard rearing method, giving better growth, feed conversion and survival than cages. Growth is moderate, on the order of 1–2 kg a year on sturgeon pellet of 42 to 48 percent protein, with feed conversion near 1.5 to 2.0. Females mature slowly, typically eight to ten years in the wild and as little as five to seven in well-run recirculating systems, after which they yield roe only every few years. Keep dissolved oxygen above about 5 mg/L and ammonia low, and separate the sexes once fish pass roughly 5 kg so females can be grown on for caviar. Farmed osetra now supplies a large share of the world caviar market. Fingerlings come from sturgeon farms in Europe, the US, Israel and China, permits are needed in some places, and CITES rules govern any cross-border trade in sturgeon products.