The Yangtze paddlefish declared extinct: the king of China's freshwater fish did not make it into 2020
The Yangtze paddlefish did not make it into 2020. Another endemic species of China's Yangtze River has been declared extinct.
A research paper (pre-proof) recently published online in the international academic journal Science of The Total Environment revealed the news.
The corresponding author of the paper is Dr. Wei Qiwei, chief scientist and researcher at the Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, and the first author is Dr. Zhang Hui.
In the paper, the researchers state that the Yangtze paddlefish is estimated to have become extinct between 2005 and 2010.
The pre-proof of the paper was published online on December 23, 2019.
In fact, on September 17, experts from the international organization IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) reported at an academic conference in Hangzhou, Zhejiang that, according to an expert panel assessment, the Yangtze paddlefish, an endemic species of China and a national first-class key protected animal, is extinct.
This is another piece of bad news, following the baiji (Critically Endangered, CR, possibly already extinct) and the Yangtze shad, which researchers declared functionally extinct.
The expert said the result is being reported to the IUCN office and will subsequently be officially updated and announced in the IUCN Red List (the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species).
In addition to the extinction of the Yangtze paddlefish, China's endemic Chinese sturgeon and Yangtze sturgeon are still assessed as “Critically Endangered” (status).
The aforementioned experts reported these assessment results at an international sturgeon conference held in Chun'an County, Hangzhou.
“A thousand-jin razorfish, a ten-thousand-jin elephant.” The “elephant” refers to the Yangtze paddlefish, which is said to be able to grow to tens of thousands of jin. The paddlefish has a massive body; adults can reach seven or eight meters in length and swim very fast. It is called the “tiger of the water” and the “king of China's freshwater fish,” and it is also one of the ten largest freshwater fish in the world.
Ten years ago, in 2009, the IUCN's assessment of the endangered status of the Yangtze paddlefish species was “Critically Endangered.”
But for sixteen years, the Yangtze paddlefish never appeared despite the painstaking searches of fishermen and scientists. According to an earlier report by The Paper, on the first day of the Chinese New Year in 2003, scientists from the Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences rescued a Yangtze paddlefish for the last time, released it and tracked it. But soon afterward, the boat hit a reef, and the radio signal of the released paddlefish also disappeared.
No one could have imagined that this might be the last time people would find the Yangtze paddlefish. Losing this one fish also meant losing the entire species.
The aforementioned IUCN expert said that there is currently no evidence, including imaging evidence, proving that the paddlefish still exists. If people photograph or capture any individual Yangtze paddlefish again, the IUCN will reconsider and adjust the species' endangered status.
According to an earlier report by The Paper, on November 4, 2018, at the Aquatic Wildlife Protection Sub-forum of the Yangtze River Biological Resources Protection Forum held in Wuhan, Hubei, Wei Qiwei, a researcher at the Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences and chief scientist of the academy, revealed in his report that the paddlefish may already be extinct and that experts were assessing the situation. Since 2003 to the present, researchers have not found the paddlefish again, and no captive-bred individuals remain. But people still held out a sliver of hope. “Some fishermen believe that paddlefish still survive in certain waters of the Yangtze River.”