White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus...White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) is an anadromous fish species native to the eastern Pacific. It is used in commercial fisheries,
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White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) Ecological Risk Screening Summary
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, April 2014 Revised, January 2018
According to Froese and Pauly (2017), A. transmontanus is a host of epitheliocystis, a bacterial
disease.
According to LaPatra et al. (1995), A. transmontanus should be considered as a potential source
of Infectious Haematopoietic Necrosis Virus because of results with the fish in experimental
setting. “It is suggested that HNV can replicate in larval white sturgeons but not in juveniles or
adults.”
Infectious haematopoetic necrosis is an OIE-reportable disease.
Threat to Humans
From Froese and Pauly:
“Harmless”
3 Impacts of Introductions Iriarte et al. (2005), citing Brito (2002), classifies A. transmontanus as invasive in Chile because
of its assumed effects of “predation on, [and] competition with native fishes”.
From Fuller (2018):
“Impact of Introduction: Unknown.”
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4 Global Distribution
Figure 1. Map of known global distribution in North America and Italy of Acipenser
transmontanus. Map from GBIF Secretariat (2017). Locations in Ohio and Georgia in the United
States, and on the St. Lawrence River in eastern Canada are not known to represent established
populations and therefore were omitted from the climate matching analysis.
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5 Distribution Within the United States
Figure 2. Map of reported United States distribution of Acipenser transmontanus. Map from
Fuller (2018). Locations in Georgia and Arizona were omitted from the climate matching
analysis because they do not represent established populations.
6 Climate Matching Summary of Climate Matching Analysis The climate match (Sanders et al. 2014; 16 climate variables; Euclidean Distance) was high in
the western United States except the Southwest, around Lake Superior, and in scattered locations
in the southern Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Medium matches occurred across much of the
remainder of the contiguous United States, except for low matches in southern Arizona, much of
the Southern Great Plains, the Gulf Coast, and Florida. Climate 6 match indicated that the
contiguous United States has a high climate match overall. The range for a high climate match is
0.103 and greater; Climate 6 match of Acipenser transmontanus is 0.425.
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Figure 3. RAMP (Sanders et al. 2018) source map showing weather stations selected as source
locations (red; Italy, western U.S. and Canada) and non-source locations (gray) for Acipenser
transmontanus climate matching. Source locations from GBIF Secretariat (2017) and Fuller
2018.
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Figure 4. Map of RAMP (Sanders et al. 2018) climate matches for Acipenser transmontanus in
the contiguous United States based on source locations reported by GBIF Secretariat (2017) and Fuller 2018. 0=Lowest match, 10=Highest match.
The “High”, “Medium”, and “Low” climate match categories are based on the following table:
Climate 6: Proportion of
(Sum of Climate Scores 6-10) / (Sum of total Climate Scores)
Climate Match
Category
0.000<X<0.005 Low
0.005<X<0.103 Medium
>0.103 High
7 Certainty of Assessment Information on the biology and distribution of A. transmontanus is available. Introductions in the
United States have been reported in Arizona, California, Georgia, Idaho and Oregon.
International introductions have been reported in Chile, Germany, Italy, and Israel. Scientific
data on the impacts of these introductions are lacking. More studies are needed to understand the
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impact this species has on the biological communities of introduced areas. Certainty of this
assessment is low.
8 Risk Assessment Summary of Risk to the Contiguous United States White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) is an anadromous fish species native to the eastern
Pacific. It is used in commercial fisheries, game fishing, and aquaculture. This species is
landlocked in the Columbia River drainage, Montana, and perhaps Lake Shasta in California.
Introductions have been reported in Arizona, California, Georgia, Idaho, Oregon, Chile,
Germany, Italy, and Israel. Introductions have failed in Arizona, Georgia, and Israel. Status is
unknown in Germany and Chile. A. transmontanus is assumed to harm native fish in Chile
through predation and competition, but there is not sufficient documentation to be certain. There
is no well-documented evidence that A. transmontanus has negatively impacted native fish
populations in any of the areas where it has been introduced. More research is needed to fully
understand the impacts from introductions of this species; absence of this research makes the
certainty of this assessment low. Climate match with the contiguous United States is high.
Overall risk posed by this species is uncertain.
Assessment Elements History of Invasiveness (Sec. 3): None Documented
Climate Match (Sec.6): High
Certainty of Assessment (Sec. 7): Low
Remarks/Important additional information Potential source of Infectious
Haematopoietic Necrosis Virus, the causative agent for an OIE-reportable disease
Overall Risk Assessment Category: Uncertain
9 References Note: The following references were accessed for this ERSS. References cited within
quoted text but not accessed are included below in Section 10.
Encyclopedia of Life (EOL). 2017. Acipenser transmontanus. Available: