Chinese Paddlefish

1 Breed Introduction

The Chinese Paddlefish (Bai sturgeon) is the largest freshwater fish in China. Its very long, elephant-trunk-like snout gives it the common name ‘Elephant-nose Fish’. It is a large, fierce fish mainly in the middle and lower Yangtze, also surviving in brackish estuaries and occasionally entering large lakes; it is a semi-anadromous migrant.

Chinese name: Bai sturgeon (Chinese paddlefish)

Binomial: Psephurus gladius

Also known as: Elephant Fish, Elephant-nose Fish, Arrow Fish, Spade Fish, ancient name Wei

Binomial: Psephurus gladius

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Class: Osteichthyes

Subclass: Actinopterygii

Order: Acipenseriformes

Suborder: Acipenseroidei

Family: Polyodontidae

Subfamily: Scaphirhynchinae

Genus: Psephurus

Species: Psephurus gladius

Distribution: Endemic to China, only in the main Yangtze, also found off the Yellow and East China Seas.

English name: Chinese paddlefish

2 Physical Characteristics

The living Chinese Paddlefish is a very ancient sturgeon. Because of its special form and overfishing and other causes, it is now endangered, its plight no less dire than the giant panda’s. What is special about its shape?

It is a paddlefish (family Polyodontidae). Named for its pale color, also called Qin Fish or Sword Fish. The body is spindle-shaped; jaws have fine sharp teeth. The snout is sword-like, 1.5 to 1.8 times the post-orbital head length, widening from front to back, with a blunt tip, narrow and flat, thick at the base. The body has no bony platelike scales; only the upper caudal edge has a row of spiny scales. The back is light purple-gray, the belly and fins faintly white. It has important academic value for fish origins, evolution, and distribution.

In body structure, it is spindle-shaped, slightly flattened at front, stout in the middle, slightly compressed behind. The head is extremely long, over half the body length, covered with plum-flower-shaped sensory pits. The underside of the snout can extend and retract freely. Ancient texts describe it as ‘Wei, with mouth under the jaw and a long cartilaginous nose’, neatly summing up its traits. Jaws have fine small teeth; a pair of short barbels lies on the snout underside; eyes small with a pair of tiny barbels near the snout underside. The mouth is large, arched, extensible, on the head underside. Two external nostrils per side. The head skin is densely covered with plum-flower sensory cells. The lateral line is complete; the tail is heterocercal with a long upper lobe and short lower lobe, spiny scales on the upper back. The body is smooth and scaleless; the upper caudal lobe has 8 rhomboid scutes extending onto it. The dorsal fin starts behind the pelvic and is made of unbranched rays. The caudal is heterocercal, upper lobe developed with a row of spiny scales on the front edge. The gut is short with 7 to 8 spiral valves. The head, back, and caudal are blue-gray; the belly is white.

3 Housing and Environment

As a native fish, pond or river water can be used, but natural water carries bacteria and parasites, so treat it before use. Suitable temperature 24 to 29 C.

It is not demanding about water, liking neutral to weakly acidic soft water. It is nocturnal, active and feeding at night, less by day but still feeding. Keep it in a large tank with dim lighting; because adults occasionally fight, some plants help separate them.

4 Feeding

It is nocturnal, active and feeding at night, less by day but still feeding. As a semi-anadromous fish, feed according to its habits in captivity.

It likes small crustaceans such as cladocerans and copepods, and adults also take small fish. Its ‘nose’ works like an elephant’s to find and catch food. Being nocturnal, it usually feeds on the bottom at night, probing the mud with its head for food.