Preserved specimens at Museum of Hydrobiological Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Wuhan, China
Conservation status
Extinct (2022) (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Actinopterygii
Order:
Acipenseriformes
Family:
Polyodontidae
Genus:
†Psephurus Günther, 1873
Species:
†P. gladius
Binomial name
†Psephurus gladius
(von Martens, 1862)
Synonyms[2][3]
Polyodon gladius von Martens 1862
Spatularia (Polyodon) angustifolium Kaup 1862
Polyodon angustifolium (Kaup 1862)
The Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gladius; simplified Chinese: 白鲟; traditional Chinese: 白鱘; pinyin: báixún: literal translation: "white sturgeon"), also known as the Chinese swordfish, is an extinct species of fish that was formerly native to the Yangtze and Yellow River basins in China. With records of specimens over three metres (ten feet) and possibly 7 m (23 ft) in length, it was one of the largest species of freshwater fish. It was the only species in the genus Psephurus and one of two recent species of paddlefish (Polyodontidae), the other being the American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula). It was an anadromous species, meaning that it spent part of its adult life at sea, while migrating upriver to spawn.
The Chinese paddlefish was officially declared extinct in 2022, with an estimated time of extinction to be by 2005, and no later than 2010, although it had become functionally extinct by 1993.[1][4] The main cause of its extinction was the construction of the Gezhouba and Three Gorges dams, causing population fragmentation and blocking the anadromous spawning migration. Overfishing also played a significant role in its demise. Fishing of the Chinese paddlefish dates back centuries, with annual harvests reaching 25 tons by the 1970s. Since the 1990s, the species was officially listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as critically endangered, and was last seen alive in 2003. A 2019 paper including scientists from the Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute found the species to be extinct.[4] It was unanimously agreed to be extinct by the Species Survival Commission Sturgeon Specialist Group of the IUCN on 15 September 2019,[5] with its conservation status being formally updated by the IUCN Red List in July 2022.[6]
^ abQiwei, W. (2022). "Psephurus gladius". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T18428A146104283. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-2.RLTS.T18428A146104283.en. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
^Froese, R.; Pauly, D. (2017). "Polydontidae". FishBase version (02/2017). Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
^"Polydontidae" (PDF). Deeplyfish- fishes of the world. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
^ abZhang, Hui; Jarić, Ivan; Roberts, David L.; He, Yongfeng; Du, Hao; Wu, Jinming; Wang, Chengyou; Wei, Qiwei (2020). "Extinction of one of the world's largest freshwater fishes: Lessons for conserving the endangered Yangtze fauna". Science of the Total Environment. 710. Elsevier BV: 136242. Bibcode:2020ScTEn.710m6242Z. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136242. ISSN 0048-9697. PMID 31911255. S2CID 210086307.
^"The Chinese paddlefish was reevaluated to be extinct". IUCN. September 2019. Archived from the original on 23 August 2020.
^Master, Farah; Zhang, Albee (22 July 2022). Fullick, Neil (ed.). "Chinese Paddlefish and wild Yangtze Sturgeon extinct - IUCN". Reuters. Archived from the original on 23 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
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