Acipenser, Huso oder Sterletus?
In dem neu erschienenen Buch von Freyhof et al. 2025 (Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia) finden wir bei den Stören (Acipenseridae) mit Sterletus einen ungewohnten Gattungsnamen und die Erläuterung der Autoren dazu:
„Traditionally, all sturgeon species found in Western Asia and Europe were placed in two genera: Acipenser (nine species) and Huso (one species). (…) The phylogeny of sturgeons has been well understood for many years, and it has long been evident that the genus Acipenser is paraphyletic. This has not been reflected into a generic classification, as species such as Sterletus stellatus have been found to occupy different positions in different analyses. Therefore, sturgeon phylogeny was considered preliminary. This was also intended to avoid renaming these highly threatened species, as it was feared that name changes would hinder sturgeon protection. Sturgeon phylogeny has recently been reanalysed [Kottelat & Freyhof 2025] and, for the first time, translated into a new generic structure. Pseudoscaphirhynchus and Scaphirhynchus remain valid genera, but Acipenser now comprises only A. sturio, A. desotoi and A. oxyrinchus. All other West Asian and European Acipenser species have been placed in the genus Huso, ignoring that Huso is a junior synonym of Sterletus. The type species of Sterletus is the American lake sturgeon (S. fulvescens). Consequently, all sturgeon species in the Pacific basin in Asia and America, including Huso dauricus, have been placed in the genus Sinosturio. Users of species names now have three options:
1) treat the knowledge of sturgeon phylogeny still as too incomplete to risk causing confusion by changing the names,
2) place all sturgeons in the family Acipenseridae in the genus Acipenser (requiring few name changes), or
3) accept the proposed generic concept, as we do in this book.“
– – –
Eschmeyer’s Catalog of Fishes
Als taxonomische Referenz im GfI-Fischartenatlas gilt standardmäßig der „Eschmeyer’s Catalog of Fishes“ (Fricke et al. 2025). Auf eine Nachfrage beim Autorenteam erreicht uns folgende Stellungnahme von Dr. Richard van der Laan (pers. comm 2025):
„Yes, there are different opinions on the splitting of Acipenser. Splitting of the clade in different genera has the advantaged of sorting the relatives in monophyletic clusters and present an overview of the relationships. But the problem lies with the almost forgotten and not in use name Sterletus. If the former genus Acipenser has to split, than we prefer the name now in use for some species: Huso. The case Sterletus / Huso can be brought to the ICZN [International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature] for an appeal to stabilize the name (after many years), but I doubt if this will happen in due course. So, for now, we would stay with Huso for this sturgeon clade.“
Konsequenzen für den GfI-Fischartenatlas
Wir folgen auch weiterhin der Meinung von Fricke et al. (2025) für die acht Arten der Acipenseridae im Bearbeitungsgebiet des Atlanten:
Europäischer Stör Acipenser sturio
Baltischer Stör Acipenser oxyrinchus
– – –
Quellen
Freyhof, Jörg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash and Kaya, Cüneyt. Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111677811
Fricke, R., Eschmeyer, W. N. & Van der Laan, R. (eds) 2025. ESCHMEYER’S CATALOG OF FISHES: GENERA, SPECIES, REFERENCES. (http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmain.asp). Electronic version accessed dd mmm 2025.
Kottelat, M., & Freyhof, J. (2025). Huso Lovetzky, 1834, a junior synonym of Sterletus Rafinesque, 1820, and comments on some other generic names for sturgeons (Chondrostei: Acipenseridae). Zootaxa, 5689(3), 538-548.
van der Laan, R. (2025): Personal communication, 13.11.2025.
Hintergrundfoto: Unter Verwendung eines Fotos von Erich Westendarp (hpgruesen) auf Pixabay