Amur Sturgeon Acipenser schrenckii

The Amur Sturgeon, also called Japanese Sturgeon, is native to the Amur River basin in the Far East of Russia and China, draining into the Sea of Japan.

It can grow to 3 metres long and weigh some 200kg. (The Kaluga, also of the Amur Basin, and the Beluga Sturgeon of the Caspian/Black Seas, can grow to twice that length and over 1000kg, although few are allowed to do so through overfishing.)

It may now be extinct from the salt water migration areas of its former range and confined to deep rivers. Although it can live to 65 years old, it is critically endangered due to overfishing, pollution and construction of dams which prevent it migrating upstream to spawn.