The Chinese sturgeon has the title of "King of the Yangtze River Fish" and living fossil, and is a national first-class protected animal. But for a long time, there has been a saying on the Internet and among the people that "artificially cultured Chinese sturgeon can be eaten".
There are 27 species of sturgeon in the world, most of which are first-class and second-class protected animals. Only one species of sturgeon can be used for food when it has legal documents.
Chinese sturgeon
Acipenser sinensis is a fish of the family Acipenseridae. Common individuals are 0.4-1.3m long and weigh 50-300kg; The largest individual is 5 meters long and weighs up to 600 kilograms. It is the largest fish in the Yangtze River, so it is called "the fish king of the Yangtze River". The body is spindle-shaped, the tip of the head is long, and there are four whiskers in front of the mouth. The mouth is located on the ventral side, which is flexible and can be stretched into a tube. The body is covered with five lines of large and hard bone scales, one on the back and two on the body side and the ventral side.
The caudal fin is crooked, the lateral fin has a broad base, and the dorsal fin is opposite to the gluteal fin. The ventral fin is located in front of the dorsal fin, with spiny scales at the base of the fin and caudal fin, spiral valves in the intestine, anus and drainage holes near the base of the ventral fin, and the opening of the fallopian tube is far away from the ovary.
Acipenser sinensis is a kind of benthic fish, which has a very narrow feeding habit and belongs to carnivorous fish. It mainly feeds on some small or slow-moving benthic animals. In the ocean, it mainly feeds on fish, followed by crustaceans and less molluscs. Juvenile Chinese sturgeon mainly feed on benthic fishes, such as Ophiuchus and Pupa, krill and viper, and generally stop eating during spawning period.