Inaddition to our primaryaffiliations, allthree of
usbenefitfrom a network ofinstitutions committed
to the scientificstudy offossil andrecentfishes, and
wish tothank ourcolleaguesat these institutions by
formally noting our courtesyappointmentswith
them.William E .Bemis is aResearchAssociate in
the Department ofIchthyology at theAmerican
Museum of NaturalHistory, NewYork and a Re-
search Associate in theDepartmentofGeology,
FieldMuseum of NaturalHistory, Chicago.Vadim
J.Birstein is a seniorscientist at the KoltsovInsti-
tute ofDevelopmentalBiology,RussianAcademy
of Sciences,Moscow, a visiting scientist at the
American Museum of NaturalHistory, NewYork
and AdjunctProfessor ofBiology at theUniversity
of Massachusetts,Amherst.John R.Waldman is a
ResearchAssociate in theDepartment ofIchthyol-
ogy at the American Museum of NaturalHistory,
We aregratefulto all persons and organizations
who helpedVadim Birstein, John Waldman and
RobertH.Boyletoorganize the 1994 conference.
Clay Hiles,ExecutiveDirector of the Hudson River
Foundation for Science and Environmental Re-
search (HRF, New York), and Robert Boyle, Co-
Chairman of the Conference, Chairman of the
Board of The Sturgeon Society (New York), and a
member of the Board of Directors of the HRF, ar-
ranged funding for the conference through the
HRF, the principalfinancialsupporter of the con-Natural History (AMNH, New York). Ellen Futter,
and Provost, Michael Novacek, encouraged us and
provided the Kaufmann Theater of the Museum for
the meetings. We also thank Thomas Lovejoy, As-
ssitant secretary for Enviroment and External Af-
fairs of the Smithsonian Institution (Washington).
and Joel Cracraft, Curator (Department of Orni-
thology, AMNH), for welcoming the participants atMurray, the actor,comedian, and supporter of
aquatic environmentalcauses, forattending our
opening ceremony and making agenerousdona-
tion to the work of TheSturgeonSociety.Stolt Sea
Farms(California),providedaquaculturedwhite
sturgeoncaviar (as analternative towildsturgeon
caviar) for theconference. PatYazgi,President of
Friends ofFishes(New York), organized two suc-
cessfulevening events.Finally, wethankEugene
Balon, theEditor-in-Chief of thejournal Environ-
mentalBiology ofFishes, for his kind collaboration
in publishing thematerials of the conference as
dedicatedissues of thejournal and a separate
volume ofDevelopments in EBF17.References citedNew York. Bemis, W.E. & E.K. Findeis. 1994. The sturgeons’ plight. Nature
370:602.
Bemis, W.E. & B. Kynard. 1997. Sturgeon rivers: an introduction
to acipenseriform biogeography and life history. Env. Biol.
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Birstein, V.J. 1993. Sturgeons and paddlefishes: threatenedfishes
in need of conservation. Cons. Biol.7:773–787.
Birstein, V.J. & W.E. Bemis. 1997.Howmany species are there in
the genusAcipenser? Env. Biol. Fish. (this volume).
Birstein, V.J.. R. Hanner & R. DeSalle. 1997. Phylogeny of the
Acipenseriformes: cytogenetic and molecular approaches.
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Gilbert, C.R. 1992. Atlantic sturgeon.pp. 31 - 39.In:R.A. Ashton
(ed.) Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida, Vol. 2, Universi-
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Ruban,G.I1997. Species structure, contemporary distribution
and status of the Siberian sturgeon,Acipenser baerii.Env.
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Smith, T.I.J. & J.P. Clugston. 1997. Status and management of
Atlantic sturgeon,Acipenser oxyrinchus,in North America.
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Waldman, J. 1995. Sturgeons and paddlefishes: a convergence of
biology, politics, and greed. Fisheries20:20–21, 49.ference. The President of the American Museum of Hilgendorf, F, 1892, Über eine neueStör-Artaus Nord-Japanthe opening ceremony.Also,we arethankfultoBill