The Chinese paddlefish, one of the world’s largest freshwater fish species and a native of the Yangtze River system, has been declared extinct. Of these, 177 species are endemic. However, little is known about the potential mechanism facilitating the coexistence of these sympatric species. Yangtze River basin, (2) to rank the major threats to impaired or extinct fish species and quantify the relative contribution of intrinsic factors to fish endangerment, and (3) to provide recommendations for fish biodiversity conservation in the Yangtze River basin. Also known as the Chinese swordfish, the species grows up to 7 meters long and is believed to have vanished between 2005 and 2010. Without fish, other species that feed on fish cannot survive. Threats to this species are river pollution, reduction of the dolphin's food supply and harmful fishing methods used on the Yangtze. “The Yangtze is a major river in the world in terms of its aquatic species diversity. The Yangtze River is the longest river in Asia and the third longest river in the world. If the fish disappear, the ecosystem and biodiversity of the Yangtze will face collapse. As a critical gene bank of aquatic organisms, the Yangtze has more than 4,300 aquatic species, including more than 400 fish species and over 170 species unique to the Yangtze River. More fish in the Yangtze River and East China Sea face endangerment after the Chinese paddlefish (psephurus gladius), the largest freshwater fish in the Yangtze River, was recently declared extinct. As the longest river in Asia, the Yangtze stretches about 4,000 miles and passes through 11 different provinces in China. We synthesized information on freshwater fish biodiversity in the Yangtze River basin. The Upper Yangtze Rare and Endemic Fish Nature Reserve was created in the 1990s as a haven for species that were threatened by the Three Gorges dam, the world's biggest hydroelectric plant. 178 fish species are endemic to the Yangtze River Basin. Length–weight relationships were determined for two endemic fish species ( Leiocassis longirostris Günther, 1864 and Schistura fasciolata Nichols & Pope, 1927) for the first time. It’s also home to the Three Gorges Dam, which is China’s largest and … The Yangtze supports 350 fish species (in-cluding 112 endemics); 261 species occur in the upper Yangtze alone (Chang 2001), representing the highest di-versity in the Palearctic region (Nelson 1994; Matthews 1998). They include the … 4 Minute Read Fish samples for the study were collected from the Yangtze River in China. In the 1960s, about 100 billion fish belonging to the four farmed species were born. The Yangtze River's ecological environment is getting better — and to prove it 12 fish species have reappeared in the river's mouth. It has been credibly claimed, after surveys in the Yangtze River during the 1980s, that baiji could be the first dolphin species in history that humans have driven to extinction. The upper Yangtze River supports the highest biodiversity of the Palearctic region, with 286 fish species distributes in its mainstream and tributaries, and 124 of these species are endemic to this area (He, Wang, Lek, Cao, & Lek‐Ang, 2011; Matthews, 1998; Nelson, 1994). Many are only found in some section of the river basin and especially the upper reach (above Yichang, but below the headwaters in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau) is rich with 279 species, including 147 Yangtze endemics and 97 strict endemics (found only in this part of the basin). The basin is usually divided into three parts, i.e. The Yangtze flows through a wide array of ecosystems and is habitat to several endemic and threatened species including the Chinese alligator, the narrow-ridged finless porpoise and the Yangtze sturgeon, but also was the home of the extinct Yangtze river dolphin (or baiji) and Chinese paddlefish. the upper Yangtze River, is the biggest hydroelectric dam in the world. It’s home to more than 350 species of fish, some of which are critically endangered. We documented 361 species and subspecies that had been recorded and described from the basin. Without fish to feed on plankton, the river will be less able to clean itself. Conservation Strategies for Endemic Fish Species Threatened by the Three Gorges Dam YOUNG-SEUK PARK,∗‡ JIANBO CHANG,† SOVAN LEK,∗ WENXUAN CAO,† SEBASTIEN BROSSE∗ ∗LADYBIO, CNRS–Universit´e Paul Sabatier, 118 route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse Cedex, France †Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 7 Southern Road of the East Lake, Wuhan … the upper reaches, the middle reaches and the lower reaches.