We studied the retina structure, visual characteristics, and correlated function of Dabry’s sturgeon () ranging from newly hatched larvae to 64-day-old juveniles using paraffin serial sections. The main results are as follows: Larvae exhibited undifferentiated retina at hatching. Single cones appeared after 36 hours and rods appeared after 6 days. After 7 days, the visual system had completely differentiated. The apparent retinomotor responses first occurred on day 13. However, the minimum separable angle (α) decreased from During the developmental period, the density of single cones and ganglion cells decreased while that of the rods correspondingly increased. The ratio of nuclei of the outer nuclear layer to ganglion cells per 100 μm increased, as did the ratio of nuclei of the outer nuclear layer to single cones. Our investigation revealed that the retina structure and visual characteristics changed rapidly from day 6 to 12 to adapt to ecological shifts and changes in photo taxis and feeding behavior.