Acipenser persicus Borodin, 1897

Iftime, Alexandru & Oţel, Vasile, 2025, An annotated systematical checklist of the Romanian ichthyofauna, Zootaxa 5654 (1), pp. 1-64 : 6

Acipenser persicus Borodin, 1897

A native anadromous species, ascending the Danube. Considered formerly present in the lower Danube but currently extirpated ( Kottelat & Freyhof 2007 —as A. colchicus ); some specimens provided by the Dunărea de Jos University of Galați (and presumably collected in Romania) were identified by molecular means to belong to this species ( Vasil’eva & Vasil’ev 2021). It was, therefore, likely present alongside A. gueldenstaedti in the lower Danube, but unclear whether as a regular, breeding occurence or as a sporadic vagrant; whatever the case, the same conditions that brought about the catastrophic decline of A. gueldenstaedtii must have affected also A. persicus , however, the presence of survivors or recent vagrants is possible.

The Black Sea form of this species, Acipenser ( persicus ) colchicus Marti, 1940 has been treated as a valid species by Kottelat & Freyhof (2007). We follow Vasil’eva & Vasil’ev (2021) and treat it as a a synonym of A. persicus .