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Age structure of juvenile Amur sturgeon Acipenser schrenckii and kaluga Huso dauricus in the Fuyuan reach of the Amur River, Northeast China
Author(s) -
Li Lei,
Zhang Jinfeng,
Wang Nianmin,
li Na,
Jin HongYu,
Ma Bo
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of applied ichthyology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.392
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1439-0426
pISSN - 0175-8659
DOI - 10.1111/jai.13921
Subject(s) - sturgeon , biology , juvenile , huso , fishery , china , acipenser , fish <actinopterygii> , ecology , archaeology , geography
Amur sturgeon Acipenser schrenckiii Brandt 1869 and kaluga Huso dauricus (Georgi 1775) are critically endangered species with populations showing significant decline from historical levels due to overexploitation, yet little is known about their population structure. Adults are not often captured in the Fuyuan reach of the Amur River, Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China, and the government prioritizes juvenile sturgeon management. This study was conducted to determine the age and length/weight relationships of juvenile Amur sturgeon and kaluga in the Fuyuan reach of the Amur River. We estimated age using pectoral fin spine sections obtained from 65 juvenile Amur sturgeon and 50 juvenile kaluga. We compared the age estimates from two readers, and found 100% between‐reader agreement in 67.7% of the Amur sturgeon and 64.0% of the kaluga. The majority of differences in estimated age were within 1 year. Length/weight relationships (LWR) were calculated, and the LWR of the Amur sturgeon and kaluga were W = 0.0025L3.106 ( r 2 = 0.966and W = 0.0022L3.175 ( r 2 = 0.989), respectively. Our study provides the age structure and LWR in juveniles of two sturgeon species.