The white sturgeon is part of a Pacific clade of species including Kaluga ("Huso dauricus"), Sakhalin ("Acipenser mikadoi"), Green ("Acipenser medirostris"), Chinese ("Acipenser sinensis") and Amur ("Acipenser schrenkii") Sturgeon. Recent genetic analysis supports a close relationship between ("A. transmontanus") and ("A. schrenckii"), which is only found in Asia, showing a common ancestor between the two around 45.8 million years ago. Using microsatellites, genetic differentiation between different river systems in the Pacific Northwest and California is high enough to be able to distinguish between white sturgeon populations and validate a structure in which watershed ("A. transmontanus") resides in.