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Evaluation of Recently Proposed Taxonomic Changes of Sturgeons (Acipenseridae), with Recommendations for Their Classification in Support of Conservation

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Abstract

The 25 species of sturgeons, Acipenseridae, comprise some of the most distinctive and critically endangered fishes on Earth: in the most recent IUCN assessment, 17 were found to be critically endangered, three endangered, four vulnerable, and one extinct in the wild. Four extant genera are commonly recognized within the family: Acipenser, Huso, Scaphirhynchus, and Pseudoscaphirhynchus. The most species-rich genus, Acipenser, is widely considered to be paraphyletic, though the monophyly of all genera except Scaphirhynchus has been questioned in recent years. Multiple phylogenetic hypotheses have been proposed using mitochondrial and nuclear markers, karyotype structures and ploidy levels, and morphological data, resulting in a proliferation of competing phylogenetic topologies and minor taxonomic revisions. However, recent molecular phylogenetic analyses based on publicly available genetic sequence data have attempted a large-scale taxonomic revision at the generic level. In our opinion, this change is not robustly supported (e.g., weak node support and issues of missing data), does not parsimoniously agree with ploidy evolution in the family, is not supported by morphological characters, and does not take into account the evidence for introgression of mitochondrial and nuclear loci among species, which can confound molecular phylogenetic results. Further, the drastic alteration to the classification of these fishes has the potential to negatively affect other aspects of their research and conservation. To address the tension between phylogenetic resolution and practical utility, we propose a conservative classification for Acipenseridae that recognizes three extant genera, namely Acipenser, Scaphirhynchus and Pseudoscaphirhynchus, and five known exclusively as fossils. The species formerly included in the genus Huso are included in Acipenser.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank Dr. Jörg Freyhof (Museum für Naturkunde–Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity, Berlin) for discussion on nomenclatural issues. We are very grateful for the helpful comments on our manuscript from two anonymous reviewers.

Funding

Our respective institutions and agencies have supported our individual and collaborative studies of sturgeon biology, genetics, and evolution over the years (including E.D. Vasil’eva’s sturgeon research, which is from the state assignment of Lomonosov Moscow State University). No additional grants or specific funding for this particular study were obtained for this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section for Natural Resources, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William and Mary’s Batten School of Coastal and Marine Sciences, Gloucester Point, Virginia, USA

    E. J. Hilton

  2. Department of Biology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy

    L. Congiu

  3. Cross Ecology, Rossland, British Columbia, Canada

    J. A. Crossman

  4. International Union for Conservation of Nature, Species Survival Commission, Sturgeon Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland

    J. A. Crossman & A. Ludwig

  5. Museum of Vertebrates, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA

    C. B. Dillman

  6. Leibniz Institut für Gewässerökologie und Binnenfischerei, Berlin, Germany

    J. Gessner

  7. School of Biological Sciences, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale, Illinois, USA

    E. Heist

  8. Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA

    B. R. Kuhajda

  9. Leibniz Institut für Zoo- und Wildtierforschung, Berlin, Germany

    A. Ludwig

  10. Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, Moscow, Russia

    N. Mugue

  11. Iranian Fisheries Science Research Institute, Tehran, Iran

    M. Pourkazemi

  12. Department of Animal Science, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA

    A. Schreier

  13. Zoological Museum, Biological Department, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

    E. D. Vasil’eva

  14. US Fish and Wildlife Service, Bozeman Fish Technology Center, Bozeman, Montana, USA

    M. A. H. Webb

  15. Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan, China

    Q. Wei

Authors
  1. E. J. Hilton
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  2. L. Congiu
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  3. J. A. Crossman
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  4. C. B. Dillman
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  6. E. Heist
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  7. B. R. Kuhajda
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  8. A. Ludwig
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  9. N. Mugue
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  10. M. Pourkazemi
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  12. E. D. Vasil’eva
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  13. M. A. H. Webb
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  14. Q. Wei
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Contributions

Following a group Zoom meeting including Eric J. Hilton, Leonardo Congiu, Casey B. Dillman, Joern Gessner, and Arne Ludwig, Hilton wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Subsequent discussions by all authors over Zoom and email refined the content of the paper; all authors contributed to and reviewed the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to E. J. Hilton.

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Hilton, E.J., Congiu, L., Crossman, J.A. et al. Evaluation of Recently Proposed Taxonomic Changes of Sturgeons (Acipenseridae), with Recommendations for Their Classification in Support of Conservation. J. Ichthyol. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945226600709

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