Genetic identification of western Mediterranean sturgeons and its implication for conservation

摘要

To date, the only native sturgeon species in Western Europe was believed to be Acipenser sturio. However, this species is currently restricted to the Gironde River ( Southern France), and it poses serious difficulties for rearing in captivity and for using in recovery programme. Furthermore, it has been questioned whether A. sturio is in fact the only species within the rivers of Western Europe, as A. naccarii, a species previously considered endemic of the Adriatic region, has been reported from the Iberian Peninsula in recent years. Here, we have used forensic techniques to obtain DNA from several museum specimens of sturgeons caught in the Spanish Guadalquivir River and in other European rivers. We analysed DNA sequences from these specimens for five genetic markers ( three nuclear and two mitochondrial regions), which were subsequently compared with sequences obtained from A. sturio and A. naccarii. Our study demonstrates that A. naccarii coexists with A. sturio, from the Adriatic Sea to the Iberian Peninsula, a finding that could be taken into account in future sturgeon recovery programmes in Western Europe.