The Chinese paddlefish was part of an ancient group of fish that had lived since around 200 million years ago.
This world's largest freshwater fish could reach up to unbelievable 7 meters in length and weigh as much as nearly half a ton. It had a long, silver-colored body and a very large mouth. With weakly developed eyes, the fish fed with its mouth open and used its long, sword-like snout to sense its food. The sword-like snout helped itself gain the nickname "Elephant Fish". And its rarity also made this unusual fish become the "Panda of the Yangtze River".
The Chinese paddlefish was native to the Yangtze River and its estuary* at the East China Sea. They mainly lived in the large rivers, but sometimes travelled into large lakes. They were strong swimmers. But wherever they went, they usually lived alone and took up the lower part of the water. Unlike its relative the American paddlefish, the Chinese paddlefish was mainly feeding on small to medium-sized fishes in rivers or lakes.
Although the Chinese paddlefish spent part of their life in the lower section of the Yangtze, they migrated up river to lay eggs, which occurred in spring, from mid-March to early April. The grown fish can lay a large number of eggs about 200,000. There used to be tons of Chinese paddlefish in the Yangtze River. After the 1970s, the decline* of the number was significant. Since 2000, there have only been two alive fish recorded. The Chinese paddlefish was reported to be extinct in a study by Chinese scientists in late 2019. In fact, it hasn't been seen since 2003 and it's thought it died out sometime between 2005 and 2010.
