Determination of sex and relationship with morphometric parameters in 18-months old cultured beluga sturgeon (Huso huso) using ultrasonography and small surgery

The aim of this study was to determine the early sex of 21 pieces of 18-month-old farmed fish using ultrasonography as a new method of sex determination and small surgery. For this purpose, a linear array transducer ultrasonography with the frequency of 9-13 MHz was used. The overall accuracy of sex determination using ultrasonography (7 males, 10 females and 4 not correct determined) and small surgery (9 males and 12 females) were 80.95% and 100%, respectively. There was no correlated to morphometric parameters including TL, SL, W and CF in 18 months beluga sturgeon with sex (P>0.05). Although a small surgical procedure is an invasive procedure, it is the safest method and no casualties have been reported. Fish morphometric parameters including TL, SL, W and CF related to sex determination by both methods using logistic regression test showed no significant relationship with fish sex (P<0.05), then cannot be used as an indicator of sex determination at this age.