#sterlet

Anyway this is Sharky the White Tip Sterlet and I will never see him again because he went straight for the 6ft+ deep bottom of the pond and he lives there now

I have done a bit of research

The Bester sturgeon is a hybridization of the beluga sturgeon (H. huso) and the sterlet (A. ruthenus (H. ruthenus now because of the reclass)) bred for the caviar of the beluga with the rapid sexual maturity and even tempering of the sterlet.

The cross was first achieved in 1952 and now it’s the most popular sturgeon hybrid. And, because these two fish are both in the diploid group (they have the same number of chromosomes), their hybrid offspring are fertile and can even be further hybridized.

So cool to see what basically looks like a beluga model with sterlet reskin. The coloration is reported to vary from the cool grey of the beluga to the warm browns of the sterlet.

Also, if you were wondering, they do it with a tiny man and a big mama.

You get a Sterlet

Majdnem jól mondta UP a tokhalas sztorit, mert abban például igaza volt, hogy a minimum 3-4 évig az ikrájukért tartott halaknak, magas életszínvonalat kell biztosítani, hogy minél több kaviárt termeljenek és nehogy megbetegedjenek. Ehhez valóban átfolyó vízen tartják őket, vagy olyan rendszerekben, ahol a halakról elfolyó vizet megtisztítják és visszavezetik a medencékbe. Viszont a megvilágítás időtartamával, sajnos nem lehet előrébb hozni az ivarérést és így a kaviár termelést, csak a már ivarérett egyedek ikratermelését lehet kicsit finomhangolni. De ezt is inkább más fajoknál, ott alkalmazzák, ahol az ikrából halat keltetnek és folyamatosan kell a szaporító anyagot biztosítani.

A nálunk, kaviár termelési célból tartott tokhalak közül a vágótok kb 7 év, a kecsege kb 5 év a lénai tok pedig kb 6 év alatt éri el az ivarérettséget, mesterséges körülmények között tartva. A legértékesebb kaviár persze még mindig a vizáé, de ez az optimális körülmények közt is csak kb 16 év alatt lesz ivarérett, amit csak nagyon kevés termelő vállal be. Vadon fogni és az ikrát feldolgozni, természetesen csak illegálisan lehet, mert világszerte szigorúan védett. Magyarországon időnként telepítik, de ezek az egyedek a Vaskapu vízlépcső miatt, csak lefelé tudnak vándorolni, vissza viza már nem jön.

sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus) wet specimen with illness (Cystoopsis acipenseri) (seen as cysts at the abdomen)

Adult sterlet can grow to around 90 to 125 centimeters, or 36 to 50 inches long, but a more typical length would be 40 centimeters or 16 inches. This species are active bottom rovers, requiring an aquarium or pond that is at least six times by four times their own total length. Although they are thus too huge for most aquariums, they are considered a small sturgeon species, as the largest sturgeon weigh in excess of a metric ton. Sturgeons have no close living relatives excepting the paddlefishes, which share their superficial similarity to sharks, not least because of the structure of their tails. In fact this asymmetrical tail morphology - upkinked and sporting the caudal fin underneath - was seen in the most recent, Palaeozoic common ancestor of the sharks and true finfishes.

Sturgeon and paddlefishes are an ancient sister branch to the mainline of finfish evolution, lacking many of the traits that are common to typical fishes known as teleosts, and retaining anatomical curiosities as are seen in ancient fossils. One peculiarity of sturgeons is their impressive bony plates. These can be sharp to touch, especially in younger sturgeon, and have obviously evolved as armor to protect them from predators. As a group, the sturgeons are famous for migrating between their freshwater spawning grounds and the sea, but not all species make such journeys, and even among the those that do so, may exist landlocked breeding populations, which inhabit freshwater year round.

Riverine A. ruthenus is among those species that is never found in the sea, although it is known to migrate downriver to overwinter, before returning upstream in spring to spawn on gravel beds. They do not seem to spawn on softer substrates. Wild A. ruthenus are inhabitants of temperate, alkaline freshwaters, more specifically large rivers and their tributaries, from the drainages of the Danube to the Yenesei. Data on their water temperature tolerances is inconsistent in the scientific literature. One source says that their optimal ambient temperature, is 13 to 16 centigrade, and the seasonal rise of temperature to 13 degrees triggers their spawning. But another says their growth is optimal, at 18 to 22 degrees.