Text/Gong Dacai
In order to publicize and protect the rare and endangered biological resources of the mainland, on March 18, 1994, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued a set of 4 special stamps of "Sturgeon", with the names of "Sturgeon", "Chinese Sturgeon", "White Sturgeon" and "Dashi Sturgeon", and the stamp designer was Li Yinqing. The pattern of the first "loach" depicts a huge fish floating in the water, with its head held high, its tail swinging, full of vitality; The second "Chinese sturgeon" depicts a Chinese sturgeon perched on the bottom of the sea, with a fusiform body that naturally stretches, leisurely and interesting; The pattern of the third "white sturgeon" depicts a white sturgeon with a long head, long kisses, swinging its body, and swimming forward, showing both a lively momentum and full of vitality, with the appeal of inspiring human beings to strive upwards; The fourth "Dashi sturgeon" depicts a Dashi sturgeon leaping into the water, heroic, which not only accurately shows a lively and natural personality, but also exudes a spirit of fighting for the tide.
△ A set of 4 special stamps of "Sturgeon"
Sturgeon, also known as sturgeon, is one of the earliest vertebrates of contemporary origin. Sturgeon belong to the order Teleost fish, suborder radiata, cartilaginous squamous scales, and sturgeon. What people usually call sturgeon refers to the fish of the order Sturgeon. It is one of the most primitive taxa of fish. Sturgeon are elongated and generally fusiform. The cross-section of the torso is nearly pentagonal. The snout is long, the body is covered with 5 rows of bone plates, or sometimes bare. There is no orbital septum, anterior gill cap, and intergill cap. The bone plates on the head may or may not be. There is a row of spiny scales on the upper edge of the caudal fin.
△ The author and old friend Li Yinqing (stamp designer, left) take a group photo at the Beijing Stamp Factory
There are 7 species of sturgeon in the wild in mainland China, and they are distributed in the Heilongjiang, Songhua and Ussuri River basins of the Shi's sturgeon, Dashi Sturgeon, and Sakhalin Island Sturgeon; Chinese sturgeon and Dashi sturgeon distributed in the Yangtze River and Jinsha River basins; Naked-bellied sturgeon distributed in the waters of Yining and other places in Xinjiang; It is found in the Siberian sturgeon of the Irtysh River, the Brento Sea and Bosten Lake in Xinjiang. So far, the mainland has introduced more than a dozen species from abroad, such as Russian sturgeon, European sturgeon, small body sturgeon, spoon sturgeon and so on as research or artificial breeding.
Wild sturgeon is a very valuable biological resource. In particular, the "white sturgeon" in the stamp set of "Sturgeon" is a rare and rare resource. Surprisingly, the Yangtze River white sturgeon, known as the "king of Freshwater Fish in China", has been officially declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. On July 21, 2022, the IUCN updated the Red List of Threatened Species to show that the Yangtze River endemic species, the white sturgeon, has become extinct, and the Yangtze River sturgeon is extinct in the wild. The three Asian sturgeon species mentioned this time include the natural populations of white sturgeon, Yangtze River sturgeon and Siberian sturgeon, the first two of which are representative aquatic species in the Yangtze River Basin. The white sturgeon was last seen in the Nanxi section of the Yangtze River in Yibin in 2003, while the Yangtze River sturgeon (Dashi sturgeon) was assessed as wild extinction due to its failure to detect juvenile fish other than the stocking population. There are more than 4,300 kinds of aquatic organisms distributed in the Yangtze River Basin, including more than 400 species of fish and more than 170 kinds of fish endemic to the Yangtze River; It has 12 species of aquatic organisms under national key protection, such as white sturgeon, white sturgeon, Chinese sturgeon, Yangtze River sturgeon and Yangtze River finless porpoise. In 2007, the white-tipped dolphin was declared functionally extinct. However, on November 14, 2018, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species was updated and released, and the extinction of the baiji dolphin was not confirmed, maintaining the original rating of "critically endangered".
△ "White Sturgeon" stamp design
On December 23, 2019, the international academic journal "Holistic Environmental Science" published a research paper by experts from the Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, and it is expected that the Yangtze River white sturgeon will become extinct from 2005 to 2010. In January 2020, the IUCN responded that there was no official release and update on the extinction of the Yangtze River white sturgeon, and "follow-up needs to be discussed". Dr. Wei Qiwei, chief scientist of the Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, pointed out that the extinction of the white sturgeon is a thing that should not happen. This is not an accident, and other aquatic organisms in the Yangtze River must not repeat the same mistakes.
Since the beginning of reform and opening up, the mainland has made tremendous achievements in protecting rare and endangered biological resources. However, the "extinction of the white sturgeon" is sad news. "Extinction is easy to regenerate and difficult to regenerate, but I hope that every inch will remain fragrant." The extinction of the Yangtze River white sturgeon has once again sounded a wake-up call for us, the global rescue of freshwater biodiversity is imminent, vigorously publicizing and protecting rare biological resources is still a long way to go, and the work of issuing stamps on rare and endangered organisms must continue to advance. I am very grateful to my old friend Li Yinqing for carefully designing this set of special stamps for "Sturgeon". Fortunately, the "white sturgeon" left a shadow on the national business card. In the future, if anyone misses the "white sturgeon", you can check the Stamp Catalogue of the People's Republic of China. People who love stamp collecting should keep the stamp of "Sturgeon" well, especially the Yangtze River white sturgeon stamp that "stretches out its long head, long kiss, swings its body, and swims forward", as a permanent memory and souvenir. (Picture courtesy of the author)