The Yangtze River stretches for 6387 kilometers, with a basin area of 1.8 million square kilometers, making it the third largest river in the world, running through the central part of China and the largest river in China. The basin is wide in size and has a large water flow, which breeds a variety of fish. There are 350 species of fish in the entire Yangtze River system, including the affiliated lakes, and 324 species of fish that live in freshwater all their lives.
However, although there are many species of fish, the living conditions are not optimistic, showing a trend of decreasing year by year, and some fish can not even see their figures. In order to protect biodiversity and maintain the stability of the ecological environment, the former Ministry of Forestry and the Ministry of Agriculture initially jointly formulated and issued a list of rare and endangered wild animals under national key protection in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Wildlife Protection Law of the People's Republic of China.
It was approved by the State Council of the People's Republic of China on December 10, 1988, and promulgated by the former Ministry of Forestry and the Ministry of Agriculture on January 14, 1989, and has undergone some changes since then. The promulgation of the List has elevated the protection of these wild animals to the level of law, and those who violate relevant laws and regulations (such as hunting or reselling wild animals listed in the list) will be punished by law.
On February 5, it was learned from the State Forestry and Grassland Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs that with the approval of the State Council, the adjusted Directory of Wild Animals under National Key Protection (hereinafter referred to as the "List") was officially released to the public. ——Source: Official website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
So how many fish are protected in the Yangtze River Basin? According to the contents of the List, there are 22 species, some of which are familiar to the fish and some of which are unknown to most people. (Some endemic protected fish, or extinct fish, are not on the List)
1, Chinese sturgeon: (protection level one) is a teleost fish, sturgeon fish, the size of the "Yangtze River fish king" is called, the largest individual can reach 5 meters, weight of about 600 kg. It is a benthic carnivorous fish that feeds mainly on small or slow-moving benthic animals.
Chinese sturgeon is a migratory fish, growing in the ocean, spawning in the Jinsha River during the spawning period, after the juveniles grow to about 15 cm, the adults take them into the open sea, grow in the open sea, the longest life expectancy can reach 40 years. It is found in China, Japan, South Korea, Laos, and North Korea. It is mainly distributed below the Jinsha River, the main stream of the Yangtze River, to the mouth of the sea, and other water systems such as the Ganjiang, Xiangjiang, Minjiang, Qiantang and Pearl River systems are occasionally present.
2, Yangtze River sturgeon: (protection level one) formerly known as Dashi sturgeon, commonly known as sturgeon, sturgeon, sand wax, etc., the body size is similar to the Chinese sturgeon, but the individual is relatively small, adult body length of about 75-105 cm, weight 4.5-12.5 kg, up to 50 kg or more, lifelong growth in freshwater, belongs to freshwater settler fish.
Yangtze River sturgeon is a carnivorous fish that feeds mainly on benthic invertebrates, plant detritus, algae and juvenile fish. It is distributed in the main tributaries of the Yangtze River, wujiang river, yellow river, yellow sea, east China Sea. In particular, the main stream of the Yangtze River from Yibin to Yichang is mostly distributed in the upstream tributaries of the Jinsha River, Tuojiang River and Jialing River.
3, white sturgeon, (protection level one) also known as elephant fish, elephant trunk fish, swordfish, column sturgeon, anglerfish and so on. The body length is 2-3 meters, the weight is 200-300 kg, and the maximum body length can reach 7.5 meters. It is a large carnivorous fish, adult and juvenile fish are mainly fish, but also eat a small number of shrimp, crabs and other aquatic animals.
According to the famous zoologist Professor Bingzhi, an individual 7 meters long and weighing one ton was captured in Nanjing, which shows the huge size of the white sturgeon. Sichuan fishermen also have the legend of "thousand pounds of wax (Chinese sturgeon) and ten thousand pounds of elephants (white sturgeon)". White sturgeon is a migratory fish that was once distributed in major rivers between the Haihe River and the Qiantang River, and is now mainly in the Yangtze River Basin, as well as in the coastal waters of the Yellow Sea, Bohai Sea and East China Sea.
The Yangtze River white sturgeon failed to make its way into 2020 and was declared extinct on December 23, 2019. (But whether there are still populations in the wild, I don't know, I hope I can still see them)
4. Flower eel: (conservation level 2) belongs to the eel family, eel genus, migratory fish. Also known as giant eel, perch, flower eel, snow eel, eel king, black ear eel, reed eel, brook eel, brook slide and so on. Fierce in temperament, hidden in caves or stone crevices during the day, out of the night to forage for carnivorous, prey on fish, shrimp, crabs, frogs and other small animals, but also forage for animal carcasses that fall into the water.
Flower eels mature in the marine neurasnads, and spawn in the deep sea, grow in fresh water, and are migratory fish. In China, it is distributed in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and south of the Qiantang River, Lingjiang River, Oujiang River, Minjiang River, JiulongJiang River, Taiwan to Guangdong, Hainan Island and Guangxi. It is distributed in the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, north to southern Korea and Japan's Kishu, west to East Africa, east to the Maguis Islands in the South Pacific, and south to southern Australia.
5, anchovies: (protection level one) is a fish of the herring family, anchovy genus, migratory. Anchovies usually inhabit the seawater, late spring and early summer to the river reproduction migration, seedlings grow in the rivers and lakes, grow to about 15 cm into the sea, develop in the sea, for warm water pelagic marine fish, feeding on plankton, which is dominated by flexors, shrimp and algae.
It is found in Fujian, Jiangxi, Hainan, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan Province and Vietnam, with the qiantang and yangtze rivers producing the most freshwater. The lower reaches of the Yangtze River Estuary had a high yield of 1.575 million kilograms in 1974, but due to the construction of pollution and water conservancy projects (damming the river), spawning grounds were seriously damaged, and their resources were seriously reduced with the overfishing of broodstock and juvenile fish.
6, rouge fish: (protection level two, only wild populations) for large freshwater fish, also known as fire bream, yellow row, wood leaf plate, red fish, purple bream, birdfish, blood row, powder row and so on. Benthic fish feed on benthic invertebrates and organic matter from underwater mud, but also eat some higher plant fragments and algae.
Cochineal spawning grounds are in Jinsha River, Min River, Jialing River and other places. After the Interception of Gezhouba, broodstock in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River could not reach the Tuojiang River, Minjiang River and other tributaries upstream to spawn, and the environment of some spawning grounds in the Yichang River section was also destroyed. Although breeding groups are still found in the lower section of the dam, the number of wild groups due to overfishing continues.
7. Rare bass (jū) crucian carp: (protection level 2, only wild populations) belongs to the genus Carp family, there is only 1 species in this genus, which is unique to China, and the wild number is not much. It is a small fish that inhabits semi-stony, semi-sedimenty substrates and small water bodies with aquatic grasses, such as: rice fields, ditches, ponds, small rivers and other micro-flowing water environments. It can live in relatively turbid water bodies, prefers to move in groups, and feeds mainly on small aquatic invertebrates.
Rare crucian carp are rare when named because they live in small waters and are gregarious and easily caught. In addition, the aquatic environment on the small surface is unstable, so it is very rare. It is found only in the Liusha River, a tributary of the Dadu River in Hanyuan County, Sichuan Province, and in some smaller rivers near Chengdu.
8. Zōng (zōng) :( protection level two) belongs to the genus Cyprinidae, also known as blowing torches, pointed eels, horse-headed urns, duck-billed urns, trumpet fish and so on. For large ferocious fish, it can even reach more than 50 kg. The flesh of the ale is tender, the fish spines are relatively small, and the individual is large, which is a high-grade edible fish and has medicinal value.
It is a semi-migratory fish, but natural production is low, mainly due to overfishing and barriers between rivers and lakes that make it difficult for its juveniles to enter the lakes. In addition, the overall decline in fish stocks in major rivers has a great impact on large and medium-sized carnivorous fish, because food shortages have caused them to lack food. It is distributed only in the plain areas of southeast China and in the water systems south of the Yangtze River.
9. Round-mouthed copperfish: (conservation level 2, only wild populations) is a carp family, copperfish fish. Also known as square head water nose, water nose, golden loach, mesh mouth, twist flower, fat tuo, watertissa and so on. It is a lower-class fish that inhabits rapidly flowing rivers and is often active in deep pools with rocks. It feeds on aquatic insects, molluscs, plant fragments, fish eggs, fry, etc.
Round-mouthed copperfish prefer to live in open water surfaces such as rivers or lakes, and individuals under 30 cm are generally active in the middle and upper layers of the water body, and larger individuals mostly inhabit the middle and lower layers, which are semi-migratory fish in rivers and lakes. It is distributed in the main tributaries of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the lower reaches of the Jinsha River, as well as in the tributaries of the Minjiang, Jialing and Wujiang rivers.
10. Albacore snout (jū) :(protected level 2) is a fish of the genus Cyprinidae and Snout, also known as marine fish, soil drainage and so on. Smaller fish, small and medium-sized fish, delicious taste, once one of the economic fish. The main diet of the albacore is freshwater shell vegetables, river clams, dragonfly larvae, and other aquatic insects.
It is found in the waters of the main tributary of the Jinsha River in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River in China and is endemic to the Jinsha River. The number of water pollution and artificial overfishing has been greatly reduced. However, researchers at the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute have successively broken through the difficulties of domestication and breeding of albacore snouts, and can carry out artificial breeding, and the first seedlings were released in 2015.
11, Sichuan white turtle: (protection level two) belongs to the order Cyprinid, cyprinid, cyprinid subfamily, white turtle genus, also known as small mouth white beetle, sharp-billed white beetle, wax brown. Benthic fish live in clear, gravelly water, forage up the river in early spring, and overwinter in deep waters and rocky river bottoms in autumn and winter, growing slowly.
Sichuan white turtles often scrape food on rocks or other objects, and also eat sedimented humus and plant debris. It is distributed in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, jinsha river, Jialing river, min river, dadu river and the middle and lower reaches of the Yalong river and other river systems.
12. Polyphosphorus white turtle: (protection level 2, only in the wild population) is a fish of the carp family and the genus of white turtles, also known as money fish, white beetle, red scale fish, multi-scaled shovel jawfish, multi-scaled protogebra and so on. It is a warm and temperate freshwater fish that lives in alpine streams at altitudes of 270-1500 m, with clear water and a sandy bottom. Omnivorous, feeds mainly on invertebrates such as larvae or adults of mosquitoes, and also feeds on algae and grow slowly.
It is found in the middle and upper reaches of the Jialing River and Han River systems (tributaries of the Yangtze River), the upper reaches of the Huai River, the WeiHe River system, the Yi River, the Luo River, the upper reaches of the Hai River, and the streams of Taishan in Shandong.
13. Sand perch: (protection level 2, only wild populations) A fish of the genus Cyprinus in the family Cyprinidae, also known as the ground large flower fish, leopard pattern flower fish and so on. It is a ferocious carnivorous fish that feeds on other fish and is known as the "tiger" in the Jinsha River.
Sand perch common weight 0.5-1 kg, up to 15 kg, full of black spots, dorsal fin, pectoral fin, tail fin slightly black. Juveniles are mostly along the coast of tributaries or main streams, and adults swim in the middle and pelagic waters of wide water bodies. It has high economic, gastronomic, nutritional, scientific research value, and has certain medicinal value, and is distributed in the dry tributary basin of the Jinsha River in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
14. Slender-scaled split-bellied fish: (conservation level 2, wild population only) belongs to the order Cyprinid, Cyprinid family, split-bellied fish genus. The body of the fish is relatively long, slightly flattened or nearly cylindrical; the body is finely scaled or bare, but there is a column of specialized large gluteal scales on each side of the anus and fin, forming a fissure in the abdominal midline between the two rows of gluteal scales, hence the name split-bellied fish.
The slender-scaled schizothorax is adapted to the plateau and cold-water climate, grows slowly, has low fecundity, and is relatively small. Even if the individual is larger, it takes 6-9 years to reach 0.5 kg of body weight, and it takes 3-4 years to sexually mature, distributed in the Jinsha River.
15. Heavy-mouth split-bellied fish: (protection level 2, only wild populations) is a kind of fish of the genus Carp family Split-bellied fish, also known as yayu, heavy-mouthed, heavy-lipped fine-scaled fish, fine turtle and so on. The meat of the fish is fat and rich in fat. Grow faster and the individual is larger, generally growing up to 1-3 kg, and the largest individual can reach 10 kg. In the Ya'an area, it is collectively called "Yayu" with the schizoty-bellied fish.
It is a cold-water fish that usually lives in slow currents, prefers to live in sand and gravel, turbulent environments, and overwinters in deep pits or underwater caves of rivers. The main diet is aquatic insects and insect larvae, but also eats small fish, shrimp and small amounts of algae. It is distributed in the main tributaries of the Yangtze River, especially in the canyon rivers of the Jialing River, Minjiang River, Tuojiang River and other river systems.
16. Thick-lipped naked heavy-lipped fish: (protection level 2, wild population only) belongs to the order Cyprinid, Cyprinid family, split-bellied fish subfamily, naked heavy-lip fish genus. Commonly known as: heavy lip flower fish, hemp fish, stone flower fish. It feeds on aquatic animals such as stone moth larvae, end-footed shrimp and stone fly larvae, and also eats a small amount of plant detritus.
The thick-lipped naked heavy-lipped fish inhabits the plateau rivers of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the upper reaches of the Yellow River and the Heilongjiang River Basin in Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and other provinces, and is more common in the bends of rivers. Growth is slower, with an average body length of only about 44 cm in 10 years.
17. Iwahara carp: (protection level 2, only wild populations) is a fish of the genus Proto-carp in the family Carp family, commonly known as mizuko, black carp, rock carp, ink carp, etc. It is an endemic fish in China, most of which inhabit the bottom layer of the water body with slow river flow and rocky bottom, often haunted by rocks, wintering in caves or deep pools on the riverbed, and beginning to swim upstream to the tributaries to spawn after spring.
The main food of the Iwahara carp is benthic organisms, water earthworms, mosquito larvae, snails, small fish and shrimp, freshwater shell vegetables and other mollusks, but also eat plant fragments, zooplankton and so on. It is distributed in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the Jinsha River and other waters, and prefers to move in rocky waters with a rocky bottom.
18. Red-lipped loach: (conservation level 2, wild population only) belongs to the order Cyprinidae, loach family, a loach species of the genus Loach. It inhabits the bottom of rivers. Individuals are larger, second only to loach long. Edible value. Populations are small, and many water systems and river sections are difficult to catch. In the 1950s, a certain proportion of fish species were caught in the lower reaches of the MinJiang River, which were once widely distributed in the Yangtze River Basin and are now rare.
19. Long loach: (protection level 2, only wild populations) is a fish of the genus Loach in the family Cyprinidae loach, also known as flower fish, flower loach, flower loach, red sand loach drill, fire army and so on. It is a warm-water demersal fish that inhabits the middle and upper reaches of rivers and between rock crevices where the flow of water is slower, and often moves in groups between underwater gravel or rock crevices.
Loach has a habit of retrospectively swimming in the water when the water rises, and is a ferocious carnivorous fish, mainly preying on small fish, especially small fish in the bottom. It is an endemic fish in China, widely distributed in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, from Hubei, Hunan to western Sichuan.
20. Bluestone Climbing Bass: (Protection Level 2) is a species of fish in the genus Catfish in the family Baculidae. They are less active , live in rapids , adsorb on rocks with suction cup-like fins , and feed mainly on aquatic insects and larvae , as well as earthworms , plant leaves , and algae. It is distributed in various rivers in Sichuan, such as Tsing Yi River, Min River, Jinsha River and so on.
21. Sichuan-Shaanxi Zheluo salmon: (protection level one) is salmon family, Zheluo salmon, Sichuan Zheluo salmon, Beishi Zheluo salmon, tiger Jia fish, cat fish and so on. It is a cold-water fish that inhabits narrow rivers, clear water, turbulent water flow and low water temperature. It is a ferocious carnivorous fish, mainly feeding on adults and their larvae of fish and aquatic insects, but also preying on water birds, small animals, etc., and sometimes eating carrion.
Sichuan-Shaanxi Salmon is large, reaching more than 50 kg, growing fast, and can develop aquaculture. It is distributed in the upper reaches of the Minjiang River, the upper reaches of the Tsingyi River and the Dadu River in China, as well as the Xushui River and the Taipei River in the upper reaches of the Han River in the southern foothills of the Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi Province.
22, Songjiang perch: (protection level two, only wild populations) Du father fish suborder, Du Father fish family, Songjiang perch genus formerly known as Songjiang perch, also known as four gill perch, Songjiang perch, flower lady, flower drum fish, wife fish and so on. It is a shallow fish inshore and generally grows in the Tamkang River, which is connected to the sea, and after sexual maturity, it enters the sea to spawn, and the juvenile fish return to live in the freshwater river.
Matsue perch is a coastal migratory fish that can be found in brackish and pure freshwater. It was once a treasure in history and was given the title of "the first fish in Jiangnan" by the Qianlong Emperor. Historical data record that the distribution of Songjiang perch is quite extensive, and its population is almost all over the entire central and southeast coastal and related river waters, from the Yalu River estuary in the north (the border between China and North Korea) to the Jiulong River estuary (Fujian Zhangzhou River) in the south, and other vast areas, with Songjiang County being the most famous.
There are 22 species of protected fish in the Yangtze River Basin in the "List", but some fish are not only distributed in the Yangtze River, but also in other areas, and the protected fish in other places also survive in the Yangtze River, which is just a reference (the next article will be introduced one by one). Because fish are found in a wide range of locations, few fish survive in a river or in one location.
In addition, I don't know if you have found a problem, that is, some fish protection methods are: "only in the wild population", the reason is very simple, because some fish have begun large-scale farming, have conquered the domestication, growth, reproduction of fish, and the scale of breeding is not small.
In the query data, it was found that the feeding and breeding of some protected fish have also been overcome, and large-scale stocking has begun, but it has not been shown that the protection is "only in the wild population", which should be that the scale of breeding is relatively small, and commercial culture has not begun, so the protection is the entire fish species.
Among these protected fish, there are some uncommon large carnivorous fish, such as: zōng(鯮), heavy-mouthed split-bellied fish, Jinsha perch, Sichuan-Shaanxi Zheluo salmon and so on. These fish tend to be overfished because of their large size and good meat quality. And with the overall decline in the density of fish in the Yangtze River, the food of carnivorous fish has decreased, and the lack of clothing and food is also a reason for their population decline.
However, this reason, I believe that the near future will gradually improve, because with the continuous decline of fish resources in the Yangtze River, from 0:00 on January 1, 2020, a tentative 10-year perennial ban on fishing will be implemented, prohibiting productive fishing of natural fishery resources, also known as "ten years of fishing ban", and fish resources will slowly recover in these 10 years.
In fact, many people do not understand the importance of protecting wild animals and protecting the environment, and some people think that with the development of society, it is just "survival of the fittest". In fact, this kind of thinking is too extreme, is there no bird chirping in the morning, no frog chirping at night, no small animals in the forest, no fish in the water, a dead and silent world, is the need for development? Is it people's good lives?
For example, some scholars once believed that the finless porpoise and the white dolphin had "survival of the fittest" because of their small littering, slow development and small population. It is a fallacy that finless porpoises and white dolphins do not know how many tens of thousands of years they have survived in the Yangtze River, why were they not extinct before, and in modern times the population almost collapsed?
Finless porpoises have been living in the Yangtze River for tens of millions of years, widely distributed in the middle and lower reaches of the waters and lakes, and once as many as hundreds of heads. But now? Now as long as they are found, it is a news, because there are too few. And was entangled in fishing nets to death, electrocuted by electric fish, hung by rolling hooks, trapped in shallow water by continuous sand mining boats and died......... The way of death is strange, not that they are not adapted to the environment to die, the biggest reason is the greed of the human heart.
The harmony between man and nature can bring a good, healthy life, and is a sustainable development, the protection of wild animals, the protection of the environment, is to protect our own homeland, only the harmony between people and animals, the environment will become more and more beautiful, and blindly take, will eventually swallow their own environmental degradation of the consequences.
Protecting the environment is to protect our homeland, protecting the fish of the Mother River, and protecting the environment on which we live. Fish is the barometer in the Yangtze River, only when the fish slowly increase, the Yangtze River can be more vibrant, the aquatic environment of the Yangtze River will be better and better, and our homeland will become more and more beautiful. Finally, I hope that these 22 species of fish can survive the crisis and regain their lives!
PS: Some fish species grow in addition to the Yangtze River basin, and wild populations are protected. And some fish in other places also grow in the Yangtze River, which is also a protected fish. Protected animals such as white dolphins and finless porpoises in the Yangtze River are relatively familiar to us, and they are not introduced here.
This article is compiled by the headline "Skinhead Commander", only for reference, without consent, it is forbidden to reprint.
According to article 341 of the Criminal Law, whoever illegally hunts or kills rare or endangered wild animals under key national protection, or illegally acquires, transports or sells rare or endangered wild animals under key national protection and their products, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention and shall also be fined, if the circumstances are serious, to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years and also fined; Whoever, in violation of hunting laws and regulations, hunts in a forbidden hunting area, during a hunting ban period, or uses prohibited tools or methods to destroy wildlife resources, if the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, public surveillance or a fine.
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References: the official website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Directory of Wild Animals under National Key Protection, the encyclopedia Yangtze River, and the fish to which it belongs