DNA testing confirms the Formosan landlocked salmon is a species endemic to Taiwan, China

Taiwan's Shei-Pa National Park announced the results of its conservation research program, among which research on Taiwan salmon, also known as the Formosan landlocked salmon, has made a major breakthrough. Through DNA sequence mapping analysis, it has for the first time been confirmed that the Formosan landlocked salmon is a native species endemic to the Taiwan region of China, and did not evolve from the landlocked form of masu salmon introduced from Japan or from @#@241@#@ that escaped from farms, but is truly a unique variety endemic to Taiwan.

According to a report by Taiwan's Eastern Broadcasting, Taiwan salmon, formerly named Formosan landlocked salmon and also known as Taiwan trout, Lishan trout and Cishan trout, is the only temperate fish species in the subtropical Taiwan region, China, and is also an endemic subspecies of fish found only in the Taiwan region. Because the name "Formosan landlocked salmon" follows the common Japanese designation, the early fisheries pioneer Deng Huotu advocated calling this Taiwan endemic species "Taiwan salmon", and in recent years it has finally been officially rectified to Taiwan salmon. However, Taiwan salmon and the landlocked form of Japanese masu salmon are very similar in appearance, differing only in minor details, and both belong to the four major subspecies of masu salmon in the genus Oncorhynchus, so in the past academia held differing views on the origin of Taiwan salmon.

In order to determine the identity of Taiwan salmon, Shei-Pa National Park commissioned the "Graduate Institute of Biotechnology, Chung Hwa College of Medical Technology" to conduct research. Assistant Professor Zhou Yizheng, who has studied Taiwan salmon for more than 10 years, used mitochondrial DNA sequence mapping analysis. In "Molecular Evolutionary Research on the Mitochondrial DNA Growth Hormone Gene Between Taiwan Salmon and Fish Species of the Genus Oncorhynchus", he sequenced more than 10,000 gene sequences of Taiwan salmon, confirming for the first time with scientific evidence that it is a native species endemic to Taiwan.

Taiwan salmon is called a "glacial relict organism", having existed since the Ice Age. In the early period it was distributed throughout the Dajia River basin, and currently it is mainly distributed in the Qijiawan Creek section of Wuling Farm. Because over the years, when scholars collected wild Taiwan salmon for annual routine artificial breeding work, they often found that among the brood fish collected there were males that had reached the minimum mature body size but showed infertility such as testicular atrophy, and coupled with natural disasters and so on, the number is about 2,000 to 3,000, sometimes dropping to fewer than 1,000.

In order to enable Taiwan salmon to reappear and survive in the streams where it historically lived, the Shei-Pa National Park Headquarters in recent years has implemented various breeding methods and established a breeding center. In October this year, it also released 250 salmon each of 12-15 cm in size into the Sijielan Creek and Nanhu Creek upstream of the Dajia River Power Plant, hoping to expand the habitat.