Failure to confirm previous identification of two putative museum specimens of the Atlantic sturgeon, Acipenser sturio, as the Adriatic sturgeon, A-naccarii

MtDNA analyses were employed to examine the species identification of three preserved museum sturgeon specimens from the River Guadalquivir, two of which were originally described as Acipenser sturio L., 1758 by Hernando (1975; Donana, Acta Vertd 2: 263-264). Later the same two specimens were identified as A. naccarii Bonaparte, 1836 by Garrido-Ramos et al. (1997; Mar Biol 129: 33-39) on the basis of morphometric and nuclear DNA analyses. Three different laboratories using independent techniques were unsuccessful in extracting authentic DNA from tissue samples from the three specimens and in obtaining any verifiable PCR product. We cannot confirm the previous molecular identification of two of these specimens by Garrido-Ramos et al. as A. naccarii. We suggest that these specimens are indeed A. sturio.