Types of Caviar

What is authentic Caviar?

Caviar is unfertilized fish eggs, also known as sturgeon roe. To be considered true authentic caviar, the roe must come from sturgeon fish of the Acipenseridae family.

Types of Sturgeon Caviar

There are 27 species of sturgeon, which are a type of fish that belong to the Acipenseridae family. They are found primarily in the Northern hemisphere, mostly in the rivers and coastal waters of Europe, Asia, and North America. They have been around for over 200 million years and are considered to be a living fossil.

The most popular and commonly known species are,

• Acipenser Huso Huso
  Common name - Beluga Caviar

• Acipenser Gueldenstaedtii
  Common name - Osetra Caviar

• Acipenser Transmontanus
  Common name - White Sturgeon Caviar

• Acipenser Baerii
  Common name - Royal Baerii or Siberian Sturgeon

• Acipenser Stellatus
  Common name - Sevruga Caviar
  
  As all caviar lovers know, only sturgeon eggs qualify as real caviar! Non-sturgeon fish eggs are just considered Roe but commonly called caviar in North America.

  Here is a full list of all 27 Sturgeon Species
  

• Acipenser baerii (Siberian Sturgeon)

• Acipenser brevirostrum (Shortnose Sturgeon)

• Acipenser Dabryanus (Chinese Sturgeon)

• Acipenser fulvescens (Lake Sturgeon)

• Acipenser gabrieli (Russian Sturgeon)

• Acipenser Gueldenstaedtii (Osetra Sturgeon)

• Acipenser Huso (Beluga Sturgeon)

• Acipenser naccarii (Adriatic Sturgeon)

• Acipenser oxyrhynchus (Atlantic Sturgeon)

• Acipenser persicus (Persian Sturgeon)

• Acipenser ruthenus (Sterlet Sturgeon)

• Acipenser Schrenckii (Kaluga Sturgeon)

• Acipenser stellatus (Sevruga Sturgeon)

• Acipenser transmontanus (White Sturgeon)

• Huso Dauricus (Kaluga Sturgeon)

• Pseudoscaphirhynchus hermanni (Syr Darya Shovelnose Sturgeon)

• Pseudoscaphirhynchus kaufmanni (Amu Darya Shovelnose Sturgeon)

• Scaphirhynchus albus (Alabama Sturgeon)

• Scaphirhynchus platorynchus (Paddlefish Sturgeon)

• Scaphirhynchus suttkusi (Alabama Sturgeon)

• Scaphirhynchus platorhynchus (Paddlefish Sturgeon)

• Scaphirhynchus sturioides (False Shovelnose Sturgeon)

• Scaphirhynchus platyrhynchus (Paddlefish Sturgeon)

• Scaphirhynchus stellatus (False Shovelnose Sturgeon)

• Scaphirhynchus platorhynchus (Paddlefish Sturgeon)

• Scaphirhynchus sturioides (False Shovelnose Sturgeon)

• Scaphirhynchus sturioides (False Shovelnose Sturgeon)
  

Types of Non-Sturgeon Caviar/Fish Roe

There are over 30,000 species of fish, but only a handful produce eggs that are edible and tasty.

The most popular and commonly known species are,

• Salmon (Salmonidae Family) There are several salmon species, most popular are Chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) or Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)

• Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss)

• Atlantic Herring (Clupea Harengus)

• Paddlefish (Polyodon Spathula)

• Lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus)
  
  It's worth noting that non-sturgeon caviar is not considered as true authentic caviar, and it’s often referred to as "substitute caviar", “fish roe” and "imitation caviar". These caviar's are not as expensive and have a different taste than sturgeon caviar.