Dwarf sturgeon

The Little Amu - Shovelnose, also Little Pseudoschaufelstör, ( Pseudoscaphirhynchus hermanni ) is an endangered or already extinct extinction of fish from the family of sturgeons ( Acipenseridae ). It is endemic in the Amu Darya in Central Asia before.

Features

The Little Amu - Shovelnose sturgeon, like other blade a spindle-shaped, widened front body with a wide, flat spatula-shaped snout. Its back is dark brown, the belly white. Morphologically, it is the Great Amu - Shovelnose ( Pseudoscaphirhynchus mercantile ) are very similar, but remains significantly smaller with a body length from 20.7 to 27 centimeters. In addition, the snout is relatively longer and more rounded and has no spines. With age, the length of the muzzle to increase. The eyes are very small. Prior to the transverse foot sit two pairs of barbels ungefranster, of which the outer is twice to three times as long as the inner. The lower lip is split down the middle. Along the body extend the typical sturgeon five rows of bony scales. These have no or very small spines. The row along the back counts 9 to 13 shields, each covering about half of the succeeding plate, with 4 to 5 other small shields behind the 28 - to 31 - rayed dorsal fin. The lateral rows are 30 to 39 as the back row and overlapping the abdominal rows 6 to 10 shields. The pectoral fins are folded at its outer edge to the top. The anal fin has 15-24 rays in front of her sitting 4-5, behind again 1-3 small shields. Sit regularly distributed nodules between the bone shields. In contrast to the large Amu - Shovelnose the caudal fin has no filamentous appendages.

With the Great Amu - Amu - Shovelnose Shovelnose little has previously often formed hybrids.

Occurrence and life

The species is endemic in the Amu Darya and populated before the lower and middle sections of the river. About the way of life almost nothing is known. Adult animals feed mainly on benthic insect larvae.

Threat and protection

The Little Amu - Shovelnose is threatened primarily by the destruction of its habitat. The species has always been rare, and in 1996 became the first time in 15 years, three animals caught. It is listed the Washington Convention and Appendix II of the Bonn Convention in Annex II and threatened in the IUCN Red List as endangered ( Critically Endangered ) classified.

Swell

  • Vadim J. Birstein: Threatened fishes of the world: Pseudoscaphirhynchus spp. ( Acipenseridae ). In: Environmental Biology of Fishes. 48, 1997, pp. 381-383.
  • Minister of Supply and Services Canada: CITES Identification Guide - Sturgeons and Paddlefish: Guide to the Identification of Sturgeon and Paddlefish Species Controlled under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Wildlife Enforcement and Intelligence Division, Environment Canada, 2001, ISBN 0-660-61641-6 ( Full text ( PDF; 10.9 MB) ).
  • Pseudoscaphirhynchus hermanni in the Red List of Threatened Species IUCN 2010 Posted by: . Mugue, N., 2010, Accessed on 26 October 2012.
  • Little Amu - Shovelnose on Fishbase.org (English)
  • Factsheet FAO
  • Sturgeons and paddlefish
Genus Barbel (anatomy) Fish fin Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals
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