Acipenser gueldenstaedtii Brandt & Ratzeburg, 1833

Iglésias, Samuel P., Bergot, Patricia, Breton, Pascal, Brunelle, Stéphanie, Camusat, Mathieu, Causse, Romain, Charbonnel, Éric, Chevaldonné, Pierre, Cordier, Yves, Cosquer, Paul, Cuillandre, Jean-Pierre, Curd, Amelia, Dubas, Rémy, Duhau, Muriel, Derrien-Courtel, Sandrine, Devique, Gabriel, Dixneuf, Stéphane, Duhamel, Erwan, Farque, Pierre-André, Francour, Patrice, Fontana, Yann, Gamon, Adelaïde, Gicqueau, Charly, Goascoz, Nicolas, Hassani, Sami, Jadaud, Angélique, Kopp, Dorothée, Lamour, Laure, Bris, Sylvain Le, Lévèque, Laurent, Liger, Pablo, Lorance, Pascal, Louisy, Patrick, Maran, Vincent, Méhault, Sonia, Metral, Luisa, Morin-Repinçay, Alizée, Mouchel, Olivier, Pere, Anthony, Quéro, Jean-Claude, Renoult, Julien P., Roche, François, Schweyer, Livier, Spitz, Jérôme, Thiriet, Pierre & Thomas, Wilfried, 2020, French ichthyological records for 2018, Cybium 44 (4), pp. 285-307 : 289

Acipenser gueldenstaedtii Brandt & Ratzeburg, 1833

A Danube sturgeon or Osetr, Acipenseridae ( Fig. 2E ), or a hybrid A. gueldenstaedtii / A. baerii Brandt, 1869 , was observed by a beachgoer on 9 Jun. 2018, washed up on La Gachère beach (Bretignolles-sur-Mer, Vendée, Bay of Biscay, France), at about 46.60°N, – 1.85°W. The specimen was about 60 cm TL. The Danube sturgeon is a fresh and brackish water fish native to the Black sea area, from where it has been introduced in various European countries. In France the species is farmed for caviar or for ornamental purposes. It is exceptionally found in French rivers where it is considered an escapee from farms. One possible explanation for the present record could be the escape of a farmed fish carried dead or alive out to sea by a neighbouring river. Identification of the specimen (by INRAE and IGB experts; Marie-Laure Acolas, pers. comm.) and diagnostic distinction from the native A. sturio were mostly based on the shape of the body and scutes. Recorded by P. Cosquer.

Figures

Figure 2. – Significant French ichthyo- logical records for 2018. A: Hexanchus griseus,> 4 m TL, 3 Nov. 2018 (white arrow = full term aborted individual ~65 cm TL); B: Squatina squatina, 126 cm TL, 10 Mar. 2018; C: Gymnu- ra altavela, ~30 cm TL, 23 Apr. 2018, (photograph: Don Jacques Pompa); D: Acipenser sturio, 115 cm TL, 4 Jun. 2018 (photograph: Pierre Nicolas), E: Acipenser gueldenstaedtii, ~60 cm TL, 9 Jun. 2018 (beached); F: Dalo- phis imberbis, ~40 cm TL, 3 Mar. 2018 (beached).