A.N.Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution Russian Academy of Science

 

Federal Agency for Fisheries of Russian Federation Ministry of Agriculture

Federal State Unitary Enterprise Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography” (VNIRO)

 

World Sturgeon Conservation Society (WSCS)

 

 

ATLAS OF ABNORMALITIES IN GAMETOGENESIS AND EARLY LIFE STAGES OF STURGEONS 

 

Ruban, G.I., Akimova, N.V., Goriounova, V.B., Mikodina, E.V., Nikolskaya, M.P., Novosadova, A.V., Rosenthal, H.K., Sokolova, S.A., Shagayeva, V.G., Shatunovsky, M.I. 

 

World Sturgeon Conservation Society: Special Publication Series

Series editor: Harald Rosenthal

Special Publication n° 7

 

1.   Introduction....................................................................................... 3

1.1 Brief history of sturgeon fishery decline and conservation in Russia......... 3

1.2   The need for global cooperation on sturgeon conservation................... 4

1.3   New approaches in sturgeon conservation culture............................... 4

1.4 Objectives of the Atlas on malformations in reproductive biology............ 6

1.5 Overall definitions on gonad development and early life history stages.... 8

2.   Materials and methods...................................................................... 11

2.1.   Studies of gameto- and gonadogenesis of sturgeons......................... 11

2.2   Studies on malformations observed in hatchery larvae and juveniles.... 12

3.   Structural abnormalities in gonads and gametes (Appendix I, II and III).. 14

3.1  Normal development...................................................................... 14

3.2  Types of abnormalities in ripe gametes of Volga sturgeons.................. 14

3.3  Abnormalities in the oocyte envelope ultrastructure........................... 16

3.4 Oocytes abnormalities in gameto- and gonadogenesis of Siberian sturgeons            16

3.5. Structural abnormalities in testes of various sturgeon species.............. 17

3.6  Overall conclusions......................................................................... 17

4.   Structural abnormalities in sturgeon larvae (Appendix IV)..................... 18

4.1  Abnormalities in body shape............................................................ 18

4.1.1  Abnormal body shapes in embryos close to or at hatching (stage 36)18

4.1.2 Abnormal body shapes in larvae at start feeding (stage 45)......... 19

4.2  Abnormalities of externally visible structures in embryos and larvae..... 19

4.2.1  Embryos at hatching (stage 36)............................................... 19

4.2.2  Larvae at start feeding (stage 45)............................................. 20

4.3 Structural abnormalities of the internal organs................................... 20

4.3.1 Embryos close to or at hatching (stage 36)................................. 20

4.3.2 Larvae at start feeding (stage 45)............................................. 21

4.4  Structural abnormalities in embryo tissues close to or at hatching and in larvae at start feeding          21

4.5   Physiological abnormalities in embryos at hatching and in larvae at start feeding           22

4.6 Mechanical damages in embryos at hatching and close to start-feeding23

4.7 Overall conclusions.......................................................................... 23

5.   Structural abnormalities in juvenile sturgeons (Appendix V).................. 24

6.   Discussion......................................................................................... 25

7.   References........................................................................................ 27

Appendix I- Abnormalities in structure of ripe oocytes in sturgeons from Volga-Caspian basin and aquaculture broodstocks........................................................................................... 37

Appendix II- Abnormalities in egg structure of Siberian sturgeons during the different periods of gametogenesis found in natural populations................................................................................ 49

Appendix III- Abnormalities in the structure of sturgeon testes.................. 57

Appendix IV- Structural abnormalities in sturgeon larvae of the Volga-Caspian basin and in aquaculture59

Appendix V- Abnormalities in sturgeon juveniles from the Volga-Caspian basin and from aquaculture     83