The Use of Ultrasound Diagnostic Method and Histological Technique to Detect Pathologies of the Internal Organs and Skin of Sturgeon Species

Abstract

To restore the stocks of sturgeon fish species in a depressed state, it is necessary to form broodstocks in hatchery farms. The technology of forming stocks in industrial conditions is far from perfect due to the low quality of breeders. The aim of this work was to identify the frequency of occurrence of anomalies and diseases of sturgeon internal organs using the method of ultrasound scanning and histological study. Two-dimensional black-and-white image, Doppler, elastography, and panoramic scan were used. Regular sonographic studies of abdominal organs, carried out in 2018–2025 at 20 fish farms, revealed a number of common pathologies and diseases in generative tissue: cystosis and polycystosis, fatty degeneration, underdevelopment and torsion of testes, neoplasm, hermaphroditism, sludge in the gallbladder, ascites, and others. The maximal number of individuals with disorders in the development of internal organs reached 67.9%, an average is 24.8%. Two stages of cystic degeneration of the ovaries were characterized by ultrasonic scanning. A significant increase in the number of females over 9 years old, with replacement of generative tissue with connective tissue (13.6%), was noted. The nature of ‘ink spots’ on the skin of Siberian sturgeon natural populations was studied. Malignant skin neoplasms were detected, and treatment routes were outlined.

Keywords

US-method / Diseases / Gonads / Liver / Gall bladder / ‘Ink Spots’

References

[1] Billard R, Lecointre G . Biology and conservation of sturgeon and paddlefish. Rev. Fish Biol. Fish. 2000, 10, 355-392. DOI: 10.1023/A:1012231526151

[2] Koshelev VN, Ruban GI . Abnormalities of Muscle and Liver Tissues Structure in the Amur Sturgeon Acipenser schrenckii and Kaluga Huso dauricus (Acipenseridae) . Inland Water Biol. 2021, 14, 606-615. DOI: 10.1134/S1995082921050096

[3] Ponomareva EN, Sorokina MN, Grigoriev VA, Kochunov AA, Absalyamov RB . The formation of reproductive brood stocks of sturgeon fish in order to increase the efficiency of their reproduction in the basins of the southern seas of Russia. News Samara Sci. Cent. Russ. Acad. Sci. 2014, 16, 1172-1175. Available Online: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/formirovanie-reproduktivnyh-matochnyh-stad-osetrovyh-ryb-s-tselyu-povysheniya-effektivnosti-ih-vosproizvodstva-v-basseynah-yuzhnyh (accessed on 8 July 2026). (In Russian)

[4] Kravchenko YV, Amirkhanyan AR, Dikusarov VG . Evaluation of fish farming in the RWS on the example of the laboratory ‘Breeding of valuable sturgeon breeds’. In Strategic Guidelines for Innovative Development of Agroindustrial Complex in Modern Economic Conditions: Proceedings of the International Scientific and Practical Conference; Volgograd State Agrarian University: Volgograd, Russia, 2016; pp. 356-360. (In Russian)

[5] Korentovich M, Litvinenko A . Artificial Production of Siberian Sturgeon Fingerlings for Restocking the Siberian Rivers of the Ob’-Irtysh Basin: A Synthesis. In The Siberian Sturgeon (Acipenser baerii, Brandt, 1869) Volume 2-Farming; Springer: Cham, Switzerland, 2018; pp. 181-216. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-61676-6_12

[6] Chebanov MS, Galich EV . Ultrasonic Diagnostics of Sturgeon Fish ; Enlightenment-South: Krasnodar, Russia, 2010; 135p. (In Russian)

[7] Chebanov MS, Galich EV . Ultrasonic screening of sturgeon fish: Culling of individuals for optimization of the structure of mature stocks and acceleration of females maturation. Fish-Farming 2019, 3-4, 10-19. Available Online: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340579032_Ultrasound_screening_of_sturgeon_fish_rejection_of_individuals_for_optimize_the_structure_of_farmed_brood_stock_and_acceleration_of_maturation_of_females_Ultrazvukovoj_skrining_osetrovyh_ryb_otbrakovk (accessed on 8 July 2026). (In Russian)

[8] Novokshenova AI, Dikusarov VG, Korotaeva OS, Kalmykov VG . The diagnostic results sex and maturity stages of the gonads of sturgeon ultrasound scanning an biopsy. News Niznevolz. Agrar. Univ. Complex 2018, 2, 221-226. Available Online: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/rezultaty-diagnostiki-pola-i-stadiy-zrelosti-gonad-osetrovyh-uzi-skanirovaniem-i-metodom-biopsii (accessed on 8 July 2026). (In Russian)

[9] Kucharczyk D, Żarski D, Krejszeff S, Nowosad J, Biłas M, Targonska K, et al. Use of an ultrasound device to determine sex and to perform gonad biopsy in the European eel Anguilla Anguilla. Braz. J. Vet. Res. Anim. Sci. 2016, 53, 199-206. DOI: 10.11606/issn.1678-4456.v53i2p199-206

[10] Novelo ND, Tiersch TR . Development and Evaluation of an Ultrasound Imaging Reproductive Index Based on the Ovarian Cycle of Channel Catfish, Ictalurus punctatus . J. World Aquac. Soc. 2016, 47, 526-537. DOI: 10.1111/jwas.12291

[11] Naeve I, Mommens M, Arukwe A, Kjørsvik E . Ultrasound as a noninvasive tool for monitoring reproductive physiology in female Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) . Physiol. Rep. 2018, 6, e13640. DOI: 10.14814/phy2.13640

[12] Næve I, Mommens M, Arukwe A, Virtanen J, Hoque ME, Kjørsvik E . Ultrasound as a noninvasive tool for monitoring reproductive physiology in male Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) . Physiol. Rep. 2019, 7, e14167. DOI: 10.14814/phy2.14167

[13] Nguyen HP, Tran TT, Nguyen HTT, Bui LNT, Trung LC . Using ultrasonography in observation of the gonadal development of striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) . Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2024, 27, 565-571. DOI: 10.47853/FAS.2024.e53

[14] Matton J, Nyland T . Small Animal Diagnostic Ultrasound ; Elsevier: North York, ON, Canada, 2015; 705p.

[15] Penninck D, d’Anjou MA . Atlas of Small Animal Ultrasonography ; John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, NJ, USA, 2015; pp. 94-211. ISBN: 9781118359983. DOI: 10.1111/avj.12578

[16] Korentovich MA, Egorov AG . The First Results of Domesticating and Artificially Breeding the Siberian Sturgeon of the Lena Population at the Chernyshevsky Fish Hatchery (Yakutia). Collection of Works of the LVII Scientific-Practical Conference of Students, Graduate Students, and Young Scientists. Tyumen: State Agrarian University of the Northern Trans-Ural. 2023. pp. 52-58. Available Online: https://www.tsaa.ru/documents/publications/2023/dostisheniia-13.pdf (accessed on 8 July 2026). (In Russian)

[17] Khonin GA, Barashkova SA, Semchenko VV . Morphological Methods of Research in Veterinary Medicine ; Omsk Regional Printing House: Omsk, Russia, 2004; 198p. ISBN: 5-87367-033-1:1000 (In Russian)

[18] Shevaldina OY, Vyhodets EV, Kuznetsova OL, Trofimova EA, Gilev DV, Kislyak NV . Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics: Problem Solving ; Publishing House of the Ural Federal University: Yekaterinburg, Russia, 2021; 220p. ISBN: 978-5-7996-3189-5 (In Russian)

[19] Zubarev AR, Nemenova NA . Ultrasound Examination of Musculoskeletal System in Adults and Children: Manual for Doctors ; Vidar-M Publishing House: Moscow, Russia, 2006; 136р. ISBN 5-88429-091-8. (In Russian)

[20] Bayunova LV . Review of data on the role of cortisol at the final stages of spawning migration and the reproductive cycle in sturgeons (Acipenseridae) . Proc. Zool. Inst. Russ. Acad. Sci. 2019, 323, 412-428. DOI: 10.31610/trudyzin/2019.323.4.412