Huso
Huso is a genus of sturgeons from eastern Europe, Asia, and eastern North America. The genus name is derived from hūso, the Old High German and Medieval Latin word for "sturgeon", which is also ancestral to Hausen, the German name for the beluga sturgeon.
Taxonomy
Until 2025, Huso was defined as containing two giant-sized species: the beluga from western Eurasia, and the kaluga from East Asia. However, this placement was long found to be polyphyletic, with the kaluga grouping with other East Asian sturgeon species. In contrast, a large number of Eurasian and two North American species were found to form a large clade with H. huso. In addition, the latter clade was found to be more closely related to the morphologically unusual Pseudoscaphirhynchus than to any other sturgeon clade.In 2025, this taxonomic conundrum was resolved by reclassifying the kaluga and other Pacific sturgeons into Sinosturio, while placing the genera related to H. huso into Huso itself. Huso is now the most speciose sturgeon genus, although all members of it are highly endangered. Almost all Huso species are found in Eurasia aside from two species in North America: the lake sturgeon and the shortnose sturgeon. These two species are not closely related to one another, with the lake sturgeon being the most basal member of the genus, while the shortnose sturgeon is belongs to one of the two major Eurasian clades in the genus.
The following species are placed in this genus:
- Huso baerii
- Huso brevirostrum
- Huso colchicus
- Huso fulvescens
- Huso gueldenstaedtii
- Huso huso
- Huso naccarii
- Huso nudiventris
- Huso persicus
- Huso ruthenus
- ''Huso stellatus''