''Acipenser'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

sturgeons Sturgeon (from Old English ultimately from Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European *''str̥(Hx)yón''-) is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the ...

, containing three species native to freshwater and estuarine systems of eastern North America and Europe. It is the type genus of the family Acipenseridae and the order Acipenseriformes.

Taxonomy

Prior to 2025, ''Acipenser'' contained almost all species in the Acipenseridae outside of ''

Huso ''Huso'' is a genus of sturgeons from eastern Europe, Asia, and eastern North America. The genus name is derived from ''wikt:huso, hūso'', the Old High German and Medieval Latin word for "sturgeon", which is also ancestral to ''wikt:Hausen, Haus ...

'' and the "shovelnose" sturgeons (''

Scaphirhynchus ''Scaphirhynchus'' is a genus of sturgeons native to North America. All species in this genus are considered to be Threatened species, threatened with extinction or worse. As of 2023, the pallid sturgeon (''S. albus'') and the Alabama sturgeon ( ...

'' and '' Pseudoscaphirhynchus''). However, such a placement is now known to be

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

with respect to the other genera, and these species have since been split into ''Huso'' and '' Sinosturio''. ''Acipenser'' in the strict sense ('' sensu stricto'') has been redefined with only 3 species. This is an ancient genus, with phylogenetic evidence suggesting that it is the most basal sturgeon genus, having diverged from other sturgeons during the

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous (geochronology, geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphy, chronostratigraphic name) is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 143.1 ...

period. Several fossil species known as far back as the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cre ...

, with the fossils of two species ('' A. praeparatorum'' and '' A. amnisinferos'') known from mass mortality assemblages thought to immediately follow the Chicxulub impact, the beginning of the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event.'''' However, the classification of these fossil species is uncertain under the new taxonomy; for example, "''Acipenser''" ''praeparatorum'' may actually represent a more derived sturgeon related to the ''Huso''-''Pseudoscaphirhynchus'' lineage.

Extant species

The following three species are placed in this genus: *'' Acipenser desotoi'' Vladykov, 1955 (Gulf sturgeon) *'' Acipenser oxyrinchus'' Mitchill, 1815 (Atlantic sturgeon) *'' Acipenser sturio''

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

, 1758 (

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

) (European sea sturgeon)

Fossil species

The following species are known from fossil remains, under a '' sensu lato'' interpretation of the genus. Almost all aside from ''A. anisinferos'' and ''A. praeparatorum'' are thought to be '' nomina dubia''. * †'' Acipenser albertensis'' Lambe, 1902 (

of Alberta, Canada) * †'' Acipenser amnisinferos''Hilton & Grande, 2023 (Late Cretaceous of North Dakota, USA) * †'' Acipenser chilini'' Nessov, 1983 (

Early Paleocene The Danian is the oldest age (geology), age or lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Paleocene Epoch or series (stratigraphy), Series, of the Paleogene Period or system (stratigraphy), System, and of the Cenozoic Era or Erathem. The beginnin ...

of Kazakhstan) * ?†'' Acipenser cretaceous'' Daimeries, 1892 (Late Cretaceous of Belgium; potentially a

teleost Teleostei (; Ancient Greek, Greek ''teleios'' "complete" + ''osteon'' "bone"), members of which are known as teleosts (), is, by far, the largest group of ray-finned fishes (class Actinopterygii), with 96% of all neontology, extant species of f ...

) * †'' Acipenser eruciferus'' Cope, 1876 (Late Cretaceous of Montana, USA) * †'' Acipenser gigantissimus'' Nessov, 1997 (Late Cretaceous of Saratov, Russia) * †'' Acipenser lemoinei'' (Priem, 1901) (

Early Eocene In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age (geology), age or lowest stage (stratigraphy), stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by th ...

of France) * ?†'' Acipenser molassicus'' Probst, 1882 (

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

of Germany; potentially a chondrichthyan) * †'' Acipenser ornatus'' Leidy, 1873 (Miocene of Virginia, USA) * †'' Acipenser parisiensis'' Priem, 1908 (

Early Oligocene The Rupelian is, in the geologic timescale, the older of two age (geology), ages or the lower of two stage (stratigraphy), stages of the Oligocene epoch (geology), Epoch/series (stratigraphy), Series. It spans the time between . It is preceded b ...

of France) * †'' Acipenser praeparatorum'' Hilton & Grande, 2023 (Late Cretaceous of North Dakota, USA) * †'' Acipenser toliapicus'' Agassiz 1844 ''ex'' Woodward 1889 (Early Eocene of England) * ?†'' Acipenser tuberculosus'' Probst 1882 (Miocene of Germany; potentially a chondrichthyan) * †'' Acipenser zhylgensis'' Nessov, 1983 (Early Paleocene of Kazakhstan)

References

External links

* * * Ray-finned fish genera Extant Campanian first appearances Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Freshwater fish genera {{Acipenseriformes-stub