Classification / Names
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa
Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Acipenseriform
Classification / Names
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa
Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Acipenseriformes
(Sturgeons and paddlefishes) > Polyodontidae
Etymology: Psephurus: Greek, psephas, -aos = dark + Greek, oura = tail (Ref. 45335).
Environment / Climate / Range
Freshwater; demersal; potamodromous (Ref. 51243). Subtropical
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range? -? cm
Max length : 300 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 28581); max. published weight: 300.0 kg (Ref. 28581)
Head very long, snout extraordinarily long, pointed and paddle-like and base broad; mouth very large.
Asia: China, endemic to the Yangtze River and its tributaries. International trade restricted (CITES II, since 1.4.98; CMS Appendix II).
Grows to 3 m in length and 300 kg in weight (Ref. 28581). Reported length of 7 m SL (Ref. 6866) and 500 kg weight (Ref. 4537, 58490) are doubtful (Paxton, pers. comm.). Piscivorous throughout most of its life. Threatened due to over harvesting and habitat loss (Ref. 58490).
Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea and W.B. Scott, 1991. World fishes important to North Americans. Exclusive of species from the continental waters of the United States and Canada. Am. Fish. Soc. Spec. Publ. (21):243 p.
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 90363)
Threat to humans
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
Estimates of some properties based on empirical models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805
= 1.2500 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00525 (0.00203 - 0.01361), b=3.10 (2.88 - 3.32), based on LWR estimates for this Subfamily-BS (Ref. 93245
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278
): 4.2 ±0.73 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 69278
): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tm=5-15).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153
): Very high vulnerability (87 of 100).