A detailed analysis of metric and meristic characters of the 0+ year class Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii Brandt et Ratzeburg, 1833) from a fish farm located in heated water is presented. The analysis involved 9 meristic and 35 metric characters of a total of 123 individuals from an experimental cage culture situated in the cooling water canal of the Dolna Odra power station. Variability of the co-called Soljan index [Soljan 1975] and of the ratio of snout width to length was explored and the relative position of barbels was determined. Certain meristic characters of the cultured juvenile sturgeons were higher, and other were lower, than the corresponding characters in a population inhabiting waters subjected to the natural thermal regime.

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