The Chinese paddlefish (白鲟)-one of the world's largest freshwater fish-has been announced extinct. Scientists say the paddlefish, also called the Chinese swordfish, is believed to have a lineage dating back at least 34 million years. With its long nose and mouth, the paddlefish could grow as long as seven meters.
But a research paper recently published in Science of the Total. Environment reported the paddlefish was now extinct. The researchers include scientists from the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Britain's University of Kent and the University of South Bohemia in the Czech Republic.
The paper says the paddlefish was announced extinct for two reasons. It said that the fish was not able to survive because of widespread overfishing and damage to its native environment in the Yangtze River.
Researchers discovered 332 different species of fish in the Yangtze River in 2017 and 2018. But they did not find a single Chinese paddlefish They guessed the fish disappeared between 2005 and 2010. The extinction of the Chinese paddlefish was "a huge loss" to nature.
Pan Wenjing is a forest and ocean expert with Greenpeace East Asia. "The ecology of the Yangtze River is almost in ruins due to human activity in past decades" Pan said. She stressed that China had taken measures to improve the Yangtze's environment, including a 10-year ban (禁令) on fishing.
After the extinction was reported in the news, some Chinese media and Internet users took a look back at the large creatures. Many people appeared to have not heard of the Chinese paddlefish before it was announced extinct.
"Every time I see the news of another species going extinct, heart starts to ache," wrote one Weibo user. "Humans should not live alone on this planet," the user added.
