Dabry's sturgeon (''Sinosturio dabryanus''), also known as the Yangtze sturgeon, Changjiang sturgeon and river sturgeon, is a species of fish in the

sturgeon Sturgeon (from Old English ultimately from Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European *''str̥(Hx)yón''-) is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the ...

family,

Acipenseridae Sturgeon (from Old English ultimately from Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European *''str̥(Hx)yón''-) is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the ...

.Zhuang, P., et al. (1997)
Biology and life history of Dabry's sturgeon, ''Acipenser dabryanus'', in the Yangtze River.
''Environmental Biology of Fishes'' 48(1-4), 257-64. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and today restricted to the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

basin, but was also recorded from the

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

basin in the past. It was a

food fish Many species of fish are caught by humans and consumed as food in virtually all regions around the world. Their meat has been an important dietary source of protein and other nutrients in the human diet. The English language does not have a s ...

of commercial importance. Its populations declined drastically, and since 1988, it was designated an endangered species on the Chinese Red List in Category I and commercial harvest was banned. It has been officially declared

extinct in the wild A species that is extinct in the wild (EW) is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as only consisting of living members kept in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its historic range ...

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

as of July 21, 2022.

Taxonomy

Prior to 2025, it was placed in the genus ''

Acipenser ''Acipenser'' is a genus of sturgeons, containing three species native to freshwater and estuarine systems of eastern North America and Europe. It is the type genus of the family Acipenseridae and the order Acipenseriformes. Taxonomy Prior t ...

'', but this placement was long found to be

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

. In 2025, it was moved to the revived genus ''

Sinosturio ''Sinosturio'' is a genus of sturgeon native to the Pacific Ocean and associated river drainages in eastern Asia and western North America. Considered synonymous with ''Acipenser'' for nearly a century, it was revived as a distinct genus in 2025 ...

''. It is the type species of the genus.

Appearance

This sturgeon has been known to reach in length, but it is usually much smaller.Froese, R. and D. Pauly. (Eds.
''Acipenser dabryanus''.
FishBase. 2011. Its body is blue-gray above and yellowish white on the belly, with five rows of

scute A scute () or scutum (Latin: ''scutum''; plural: ''scuta'' "Scutum (shield), shield") is a bony external plate or scale overlaid with horn, as on the shell of a turtle, the skin of crocodilians, and the feet of Bird anatomy#Scales, birds. The ter ...

s. The head is triangular and the snout is long with the mouth located on the underside. There are two pairs of

barbels In fish anatomy and turtle anatomy, a barbel is a slender, whisker like sensory organ near the mouth (sometimes called whiskers or tendrils). Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, the hagfish, the sturgeon, the z ...

.Gao, X., et al. (2009)
Threatened fishes of the world: ''Acipenser dabryanus'' Duméril, 1869.
''Environmental Biology of Fishes'' 85(2), 117-18.

Behavior

The fish lives in slow-moving river waters over substrates of sand and mud. It feeds on

aquatic plant Aquatic plants, also referred to as hydrophytes, are vascular plants and Non-vascular plant, non-vascular plants that have adapted to live in aquatic ecosystem, aquatic environments (marine ecosystem, saltwater or freshwater ecosystem, freshwater ...

s, invertebrates, and small fish. This species is potamodromous, taking part in a

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

, but never leaving fresh water. It spawns in the upper Yangtze, mainly during March and April, and sometimes around November and December. Males spawn each year, but most females do not. The female produces 57,000 to 102,000 eggs.

Conservation status

This was once a common fish in the Yangtze system. It was known from the main river and some of its larger

tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...

, as well as some lakes attached to the system. By the late 20th century, it was

extirpated Local extinction, also extirpation, is the termination of a species (or other taxon) in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinctions. Local extinctions mark a chan ...

from the lower river and limited to the upper reaches in

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

. The main causes of its drastic decline include

overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing Fish stocks, fish stock), resu ...

, including the

overharvesting Overexploitation, also called overharvesting or ecological overshoot, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to ...

of juveniles. The construction of

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

s, notably the

Gezhouba Dam The Gezhouba Dam or Gezhouba Water Control Project () on the Yangtze River is located in the western suburbs of Yichang, in central China's Hubei province. One of the largest run-of-the-river dams, it sits several kilometers upstream from downto ...

and

Three Gorges Dam The Three Gorges Dam (), officially known as Yangtze River Three Gorges Water Conservancy Project () is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River near Sandouping in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downs ...

, blocked the movement of the fish along the river, restricting it to the upper reaches. It also caused

habitat fragmentation Habitat fragmentation describes the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred environment (habitat), causing population fragmentation and ecosystem decay. Causes of habitat fragmentation include geological proces ...

and degradation. Increased development and

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

on land near the river has increased

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...

from

wastewater Wastewater (or waste water) is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking water or saline water in a variety of deliberate applications or processes. Another definition of wastewater is "Used water from any combination of do ...

and runoff. The Yangtze basin is and was its main range, but it has also been found in the Yellow River basin, with the last records in the 1960s. The fish has been bred in captivity since the 1970s. Thousands of individuals have been released into the Yangtze basin, but are apparently not breeding. Nevertheless, this restocking may be the only effort preventing the

extinction Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

of the species. On June 7th, 2024, the

China Three Gorges Corporation The China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG; ) is a Chinese state-owned power company, established on 27 September 1993. The company was responsible for the construction of the Three Gorges Dam-project, the world's largest hydroelectric power plant, t ...

released over 800,000 individuals bred in captivity into the Yangtze River in

Yibin Yibin ( zh, s=宜宾 , t=宜賓 , p=Yíbīn , w=I-pin, region=CN-SC-15; Sichuanese Pinyin: ȵi2bin1; Sichuanese pronunciation: ) is a prefecture-level city in the southeastern part of Sichuan province, China, located at the junction of the Min ...

with plans to continue breeding them with future mass releases in the future.

References

{{Portal bar, Fish, Animals, Biology, China Acipenser Critically endangered fish Critically endangered fauna of Asia Endemic fauna of China Fish described in 1869 Freshwater fish of China Species that are or were threatened by damming Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Yangtze River

Taxonomy

Appearance

Behavior

Conservation status

See also

References