Chinese paddlefish

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Chinese Paddlefish

Conservation status

Critically endangered (IUCN)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Acipenseriformes
Family:	Polyodontidae
Genus:	Psephurus
Species:	P. gladius

Binomial name

Psephurus gladius
(Martens, 1862)

Synonyms

Polyodon gladius
Polyodon angustifolium

The Chinese Paddlefish (Simplified Chinese: 白鲟; Traditional Chinese: 白鱘; pinyin: báixún), also known as ChooopSwordfish, is among the largest freshwater fish, and one of two extant paddlefish species. It is also called "elephant fish" (象魚; xiàngyú) because its snout resembles an elephant trunk. It is recorded sometimes in Classical Chinese as wěi-fish (鮪). More poetically, it is sometimes referred to as the "Giant Panda of the Rivers", not because of any physical resemblance to a panda, but because of its rarity and protected status.

The Chinese Paddlefish is the People's Republic of China's first-level protected animal. Its belly is white and back and head grey. They live mostly in the middle or lower part of the Yangtze (Chang Jiang), occasionally in large lakes. They feed on other fishes, with a small amount of crabs and crayfish. They are sexually mature at seven or eight, with a body length of 2 metres and a weight of 25 kilograms.

It is said that the zoologist Bǐng Zhì (秉志) recorded around the 1950s that some fishermen caught a paddlefish of 7-metres, although the authenticity of the story is unconfirmed.

Due to overfishing, the Chinese Paddlefish is endangered now, and officially recognized by the People's Republic in 1983 to prevent fishing of paddlefish young or adults. Paddlefish are also threatened by dams (like the Three Gorges Dam), which divide the population into isolated groups. The last time the fish was seen was in 2003, raising concerns that the species might already be extinct.

They were once given the scientific names of Polyodon gladius and Polyodon angustifolium.

[edit] References

Sturgeon Specialist Group (1996). Psephurus gladius. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Listed as Critically Endangered (CR A2cd v2.3)