Ecological Risk Screening Summary - Stellate Sturgeon (Acipenser stellatus) - Uncertain Risk

Species that are considered uncertain risk need a more in-depth assessment beyond the Risk Summary to better define the species’ risk to U.S. environments.

Acipenser stellatus, the Stellate Sturgeon, is an anadromous species native to the Caspian, Black, and Aegean Seas. It is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN, and it has been extirpated from the Aegean Sea. A. stellatus has been deliberately introduced to the Aral Sea, but the population failed. This species has a high climate match with the contiguous United States. However, RAMP (Sanders et al. 2018) was not developed for use in assessing climate match for marine species so the climate match in a marine environment, where A. stellatus matures, cannot be assessed with an ERSS. Because of a lack of establishment outside its native range, the certainty of this species’ risk assessment is low. The overall risk assessment category is therefore uncertain.