How many years does a sturgeon generally need to be farmed before it can spawn?

SummaryAccording to relevant research, female fish are around 16-29 years old when they spawn, and their body weight generally reaches around 170-300 kg, while male fish reach sexual maturity at around 9-22 years old, with a body weight of around 40-125 kg. The fish school stops feeding during the spawning period, and the optimal hatching water temperature for the eggs is around 20°C.

According to observational data, the Chinese sturgeon gains weight quickly. Females gain an average of 8-13 kg per year, and males gain 5-8 kg, but it takes 8-14 years to grow from fry to adult fish and reach sexual maturity. Among the spawning fish school, females are around 16-29 years old, with a body weight of 170-300 kg, while males are around 9-22 years old, with a body weight of 40-130 kg.

Brood sturgeon stop feeding during the reproductive period, and female brood fish quickly begin to descend to the river bottom after spawning. The eggs they produce are sticky and mainly adhere to gravel or rocks on the riverbed. At a water temperature of around 17-18°C, the fertilized eggs undergo 5-6 nights of incubation. The newly hatched larvae have a huge yolk sac on their bodies, closely resembling the shape of a tadpole, and drift along with the water. After about 12-14 days, they hatch from the membrane and begin feeding.

Living Habits of Sturgeon

1. The Chinese sturgeon is a warm-water fish and can adapt to a very wide range of water temperatures. The survival water temperature for artificially farmed Chinese sturgeon is 0-37°C, the suitable growth water temperature is 13-25°C, but the optimal growth water temperature is 20-22°C. The suitable water temperature for inducing spawning in brood sturgeon is around 17-24.5°C, while the most suitable water temperature for egg hatching is around 17-21°C. After entering winter, when the water temperature drops to 9-6°C, the Chinese sturgeon's food intake becomes very small, growth stops, and weight loss may also occur.

2. The Chinese sturgeon is a carnivorous bottom-dwelling fish, and its feeding habits are quite narrow. Juvenile Chinese sturgeon in the estuary area mainly feed on bottom-dwelling fish of the genera Ophichthus and pupae, as well as clams and krill, and they stop eating during the spawning period. In the ocean, they mainly feed on fish, secondarily on crustaceans, and relatively little on mollusks. In rivers, they mainly feed on some slow-moving and smaller bottom-dwelling animals.

3. Around the Beginning of Spring, when the water temperature slowly rises back to 10-13°C, they begin to feed in small amounts, and their growth rate is relatively slow. By Qingming, when the water temperature reaches 15°C or above, feeding activity gradually becomes active and the growth rate accelerates. When the water temperature reaches as high as 33-38°C, it will affect the normal activity of the Chinese sturgeon.

During the vertical swimming stage, fry have extremely strong phototaxis, and generally after they switch to bottom-dwelling, phototaxis gradually disappears. Under normal circumstances, ordinary light intensity has no particularly obvious effect on juvenile and larval sturgeon, but in order to avoid strong summer light causing a sharp increase in the water temperature of the pond, facilities such as sunshades or shade nets should be set up over the pond.