The sterlet is a common Eurasian species of sturgeon

Sturgeon

Sturgeon is the common name used for some 26 species of fish in the family Acipenseridae, including the genera Acipenser, Huso, Scaphirhynchus and Pseudoscaphirhynchus. The term includes over 20 species commonly referred to as sturgeon and several closely related species that have distinct common...

, one of the smaller species of sturgeon. It is a common domestic species in the UK and Europe and an angling species all over the world. It can also be grown for eating or for its caviar

Caviar

Caviar, sometimes called black caviar, is a luxury delicacy, consisting of processed, salted, non-fertilized sturgeon roe. The roe can be "fresh" or pasteurized, the latter having much less culinary and economic value....

 or isinglass

Isinglass

Isinglass is a substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish. It is a form of collagen used mainly for the clarification of wine and beer. It can also be cooked into a paste for specialized gluing purposes....

.

Physical appearance

• The sterlet may reach 16 kg in weight and 100 to 125 cm in length, rarely exceeding a length of 3 ft.
• It is quite variable in coloration, but usually has a yellowish ventral side.
• It is distinguishable between other European species of sturgeons by the presence of a great number of whitish lateral scutes, fringed barbels, and an elongated and narrow snout, highly variable in length,.

Feeding habits

The sterlet's main source of food is benthic organisms; they commonly feed on crustaceans, worm

Worm

The term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...

s, and insect larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e.

Life span

The sterlet commonly reaches the age of 22 to 25 years.

Spawning requirements

• Sexually mature adults
• Within spawning period
• Water temperature preferably 12–17 °C (53.6–62.6 F).

As pond fish

Sterlets require relatively large ponds with good water conditions, and may get entangled in plants such as blanketweed. Sterlets may require specialist food such as sterlet sticks, as they are unable to digest the vegetable proteins usually found in commercial fish foods.

As food

In Russia, it is held in high esteem on account of its excellent flesh, contributing also to the best kinds of caviar and isinglass.

Sturgeon hybrids

• Sterlet x Beluga (Huso huso) = (Bester)
• Sterlet x Siberian [Russian (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii)]
• Sterlet x Diamondback

• The most common sturgeon hybrid is Diamondback x Siberian.
• There is also Italian x Diamondback.
• Hybrids are hardier than their parents.