Hybrid Sturgeon
Photograph of a Alonka Sturgeon
A hybrid is the young of two parents that differ in one or more inheritable characteristics, and can be the young of two different varieties of the same species, or, the young of two parents belonging to different species.
In agriculture and animal husbandry hybrids are bred to combine the most favourable characteristics of the parents and reduce the less favourable. Hybrids can often be more vigorous ie, hardier than their parents, however not all hybrids are fertile especially those bred between different species.
In the case of sturgeon, all species can be crossed, although not all are fertile. They are becoming more popular amongst enthusiasts and so you may see different types for sale, the most common being;
Diamond x Siberian - known as Alonka
Diamond x Sterlet
Diamond x Naccarii
Sterlet x Siberian
Sterlet x Beluga - known as Bester
Siberian x Naccarii - known as Baccarii
The Bester for example (male sterlet x female beluga) looks more like the Sterlet but has the large mouth of the Beluga. As they don't reach the vast sizes of the original Beluga they are somewhat easier to accommodate and handle.
As well as becoming popular in the hobbyist market, hybrids are also playing their part in helping to prevent the demise of wild sturgeon.
In the USA, since 1998 MOTE Marine Laboratory has been using Besters, among other sturgeon species. The hybrids began producing meat in 2003 and caviar in 2004. It is hoped that work such as this will alleviate the pressure put on the wild sturgeon stocks in the Caspian Sea, and also help fill the current supply versus demand gap in a manner which is both responsible and ecologically sustainable.
They are now considered as worthy as their pure bred relatives and are kept as such in the Chinese Sturgeon Museum, helping to boost their popularity and reduce the likelyhood of them being seen as the 'mongrels' of the sturgeon population.
