Oh I actually have an answer for this! So basically, the hybrids themselves do nothing to help conserve the species, this is an entirely accidental byproduct of a different thing they were doing. So basically, because populations are so low in the parent species, scientists were trying to induce a form of parthenogenesis (asexual reproduction) that requires a sperm to be present, but not actually contributing anything genetically. They thought that by using the sperm of the other fish species, no fertilization would occur. The reason they were so confident no fertilization would occur is because these fish are estimated to have split from each other on the evolutionary tree over 180 million years ago. They're not even classified in the same family! You can imagine the researchers surprise when the hybrids hatched! The one pictured is actually one of two types of hybrid that occured, its from this set:
A is a Russian sturgeon yearling, B is a normal hybrid, C is another, very neat hybrid type that ill explain in a sec, and D is an American Paddlefish yearling
As far as I understand, we're not actually certain on if the hybrids can reproduce, but the answer is most likely no because of how distantly related their parents are. These dudes dont have much use for conservation, but there are some speculated uses in the fish farming industry, particularly for caviar farming, related to cost and environmental impact. These little dudes don't seems to often survive for very long, only about 100 hybrids out of several hundred made it over a year, but that could be die to any number of reasons.
Now, I wanna talk about fish C because I think fish C is neat. Fish C is special because while it is in parentage half paddlefish half sturgeon, genetically it has way more paddlefish dna (about twice as much!) because of chromosome doubling. As a result, they look way more like paddlefish then their cousins of more equal genetic distribution. This actually brings us back to the breeding thing, because from what I understand, chromosome doubling is actually pretty useful in hybrids because it increases the chances of fertility, so while we don't have any evidence that either type of hybrid can reproduce, my guess is fish C will be the one to keep a closer eye on, as they'll probably have the best chance. I am not a marine biologist though so take this with a grain of salt.
Now, I'm gonna talk more about fish
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