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Sturgeon in Iberia from Past to Present

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Biology and Conservation of the European SturgeonAcipenser sturioL. 1758

Abstract

Archaeozoological data from the Upper Paleolithic onwards provide evidence of the presence of sturgeon in the Iberian Peninsula suggesting both a refuge during the last glaciations and their apparent scarcity during ancient times. The species recorded in all cases was apparently the European sturgeon Acipenser sturio. Genetic data demonstrate a sub-structuring in the Iberian Peninsula. Populations increased during the eighteenth and nineteenth century resulting in commercial exploitations in the Guadalquivir and Ebro rivers. Overfishing and river damming have been key factors causing extinction during the early twentieth century. In addition to the European sturgeon, Atlantic sturgeon (A. oxyrinchus), beluga (Huso huso) and Adriatic sturgeon (A. naccarii) are discussed as presumably former endemic species. Such status remains open given that the occurrence of isolated specimens is not taken as conclusive evidence for the upgrading of these taxa to a native species status.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany

    Arne Ludwig

  2. Laboratorio Arqueozoologia, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Darwin, 2, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    Arturo Morales-Muñiz & Eufrasia Roselló-Izquierdo

Authors
  1. Arne Ludwig
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  2. Arturo Morales-Muñiz
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  3. Eufrasia Roselló-Izquierdo
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Correspondence to Arne Ludwig .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. rue du Pas de Madame 4, Audenge, 33980, France

    Patrick Williot

  2. UR Ecosystemes Estuariens et Poissons Mi, Cemagref, Avenue de Verdun 50, Cestas cedex, 33612, France

    Eric Rochard

  3. CÉPAM, Labo. Archéologie, CNRS Valbonne, avenue Albert-Einstein 250, Valbonne, 06560, France

    Nathalie Desse-Berset

  4. Abt. Biologie und Ökologie der Fische, Humboldt-Universität Berlin, Philippstr. 13, Berlin, 10115, Germany

    Frank Kirschbaum

  5. Gewässerökologie und Binnenfischerei, Leibniz-Institut für, Müggelseedamm 310, Berlin, 12587, Berlin, Germany

    Jörn Gessner

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Ludwig, A., Morales-Muñiz, A., Roselló-Izquierdo, E. (2011). Sturgeon in Iberia from Past to Present. In: Williot, P., Rochard, E., Desse-Berset, N., Kirschbaum, F., Gessner, J. (eds) Biology and Conservation of the European SturgeonAcipenser sturioL. 1758. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20611-5_9

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