51813_Sturgeon biodioversity an.PDF

evidenceis available, to our knowledge. The effect
of seasonal factors on reproduction of Acipenseri-

stocks of Russian sturgeon and stellate sturgeon in-
to different spawning ecotypes, generally similar to
spawning races in salmonids (‘vernal’ and ‘hiemal’
ecotypes, distinguished by the season and stage of
maturity when they initiate their spawning migra-
tion in the river, Barannikova 1991, Dettlaff et al.
1993).
Thermal environment plays an important role in
the reproduction of Acipenseriformes, as it does in
teleosts (de Vlaming 1972, Sundararaj & Vasal
1976) and other ectothermic vertebrates (Lichtet
al. 1969). In agreement with observationsonA. stel-
latusandA.gueldenstaedti(Dettlaff et al. 1993), we
observed high sensitivityofgonadal development
to environmental temperature in white sturgeon.

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Acknowledgements

Thiswork wassupported bytheWestern Regional

Aquaculture Consortium, USDA, Development of

Sturgeon Broodstocks project No. 459497 and the

NOAA, National Sea Grant College Program, U.S.

Department of commerce, under grant number

NA85AA-D-SG140, project number RIA 85,

through the California Sea Grant College Program,

and in part by the California State Resource Agen-

cy. We gratefully acknowledge the members of the

California sturgeon Broodstock Development

Committee and the graduate students who have as-

sisted in the many years of field research.