Chinese paddlefish

An extinct large freshwater fish native to China.

The Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gladius) (simplified Chinese: 白鲟; traditional Chinese: 白鱘; pinyin: báixún), also known as Chinese swordfish, is an extinct species of fish that was found in Yangtze and Yellow River basins in China. They had an average length of 3 m (9.8 ft),[1] making it one of the largest species of primarily freshwater fishes.

The Chinese paddlefish display at a museum

The Chinese paddlefish was officially declared extinct in July 2022, with an estimated time of extinction to be by 2005–2010, although it had become functionally extinct by 1993.[2] The main cause of its extinction was the construction of the Gezhouba and Three Gorges dams.[3]

References

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  1. Yirka, Bob (2020-01-08). "Chinese paddlefish declared extinct". Phys.org. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
  2. Zhang, 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.
  3. "The Chinese paddlefish was reevaluated to be extinct". IUCN. 3 February 2016. Archived from the original on 2020-08-23.