Chinese paddlefish
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),[4] making it one of the largest species of primarily freshwater fishes.
| Chinese paddlefish | |
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| Preserved specimens at Museum of Hydrobiological Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Wuhan, China | |
| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification 
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| Unrecognized taxon (fix): | Polyodontidae |
| Genus: | Psephurus Günther, 1873 |
| Species: | †P. gladius
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| Binomial name | |
| Psephurus gladius (von Martens, 1862)
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| Synonyms[2][3] | |
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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.[5] The main cause of its extinction was the construction of the Gezhouba and Three Gorges dams.[6]
Chinese Paddlefish Media
A specimen at Museum of Hydrobiological Sciences, Wuhan Institute of Hydrobiology
Size of the 2003 female specimen, (red, top), compared to the American and fossil paddlefish
Scientific drawing of Psephurus gladius from 1868 (resource: Nouvelles Archives du Muséum national d'histoire naturelle)
A reconstruction of Protopsephurus and Lycoptera.
Psephurus gladius
Reconstruction of Crossopholis illustrated by Matthew Summerville.
Polyodon spathula
A specimen of Psephurus gladius, Museum of Hydrobiological Sciences, Wuhan Institute of Hydrobiology (1)
Depiction in the 17th-century work Searching the Mountains for Demons by Zheng Zhong
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References
- ↑ Qiwei, W.. 'Psephurus gladius'. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022 (2022)IUCN. p. e.T18428A146104283. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-2.RLTS.T18428A146104283.en. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ↑ Froese, R.. Polydontidae. FishBase version (02/2017) (2017). Retrieved 18 May 2017.
- ↑ Polydontidae. Deeplyfish- fishes of the world. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
- ↑ Yirka, Bob. Chinese paddlefish declared extinct. Phys.org (2020-01-08). Retrieved 2020-01-09.
- ↑ Zhang, Hui. Extinction of one of the world's largest freshwater fishes: Lessons for conserving the endangered Yangtze fauna. Science of the Total Environment 710 (2020)Elsevier BV. p. 136242. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136242.
- ↑ The Chinese paddlefish was reevaluated to be extinct. IUCN (3 February 2016).