Determining the specific status of the Iberian sturgeons by means genetic analyses of old specimens

Abstract

To clarify the species status of sturgeon from rivers of the Iberian Peninsula, eight molecular markers (4 nuclear and 4 mitochondrial) have been analysed in different specimens from historical museum samples and prehistoric samples from archaeological sites. These analyses indicate that one of these specimens (UGP captured in the Guadalquivir River in the 19th century) is A. sturio, based on all the eight molecular markers, four of them used from the first time in this study. In previous analyses based on 5 genetic markers, our group assigned two specimens captured in this river in the 1970-80s (EBD8173 and EBD8401) to the species A. naccarii, suggesting the presence of this species in the Iberian Peninsula. In this work, this conclusion is drawn after successfully obtaining a mitochondrial marker in a very old scute from a prehistoric site (Acinipo, about 1500 BC, from the Guadalquivir River basin). On the other hand, in the specimen EBD8174 captured in the Guadalquivir in 1975, we have obtained two new mitochondrial markers confirming that it can be considered A. sturio for all the mitochondrial markers, but nuclear ones identify it as A. naccarii. Finally, two very old samples (Nerja E-VI and Nerja N/62-63) were not successfully characterized by any molecular markers. Some aspects and consequences of our results are discussed, such as the origin of the “mosaic” specimen EBD8174 and, above all, the native status of A. naccarii in historic and prehistoric times in the southern Iberian Peninsula

The Holocene occurrence of Acipenser spp. in the southern North Sea: the archaeological record

“…Size of the circles is proportional to the number of remains. Based on data from Garrido‐Ramos et al (, ), Ludwig et al (), de la Herrán et al (), Tiedemann et al (), Desse‐Berset (), Pagès et al (), Robles et al (), Desse‐Berset & Williot (), Chassaing et al (), Popović et al (), Thieren et al () and this study.…”

“…. These data are combined with all previously morphologically or genetically examined archaeological sturgeon remains and with information from museum specimens from the Mediterranean, the North and Baltic Sea, the English Channel, the Iberian Peninsula and the north‐east Atlantic Ocean, (Garrido‐Ramos et al ., , ; Ludwig et al ., ; de la Herrán et al ., ; Desse‐Berset, ; Robles et al ., ; Desse‐Berset & Williot, ; Chassaing et al ., ; Haerter et al ., ; Popović et al ., ; Thieren et al ., ). Lake Ladoga, located in north‐western Russia and connected to the Baltic, was not included in this overview.…”

The presence of Acipenser sturgeons in the Iberian Peninsula: a review of the existing literature

“…Given these results, they were unable to find proof of the presence of other sturgeon species in the Iberian Peninsula, although the low number of samples was an acknowledged limiting factor. Robles et al (2010) analysed (previous and some new) results of a study of eight molecular markers in historical samples of sturgeon, including a 19 th -century specimen from the University of Granada, three specimens from the River Guadalquivir between the 70's and 80's from the EBD-CSIC and prehistoric samples (remains of scutes in Acipenser sturgeons in Iberia DOI: 10.29094/FiSHMED.2023.002 archaeological digs dating 12000 years ago in the Caves of Nerja and of 1500 BCE in Ronda Vieja). The eight markers identified the specimen from the University of Granada as A. sturio.…”