An endangered Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gladius) that was rescued by a fisherman is to stay at a research institute in Kunshan, East China's Jiangsu Province, to recover from its injuries.
The 117-kilogram specimen, measuring 3.3 meters in length, is the biggest ever found in the region and was discovered in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River on December 11.
The fish had lost its capacity to swim and was floating in the water after being seriously injured by passing ships and fishing equipment in the river. Sun Yonglai, a fisherman in Jiangsu, spent an hour pulling the fish back in his fishing net to a nearby dock and reported the find to the authorities immediately.
A nine-member rescue team, headed by Dr Wei Qiwei, from the Yangtze River Fishery Research Institute, drove hundreds of kilometers from Central China's Hubei Province to reach the scene that same night.
This Chinese paddlefish, whose age is estimated at between 15 and 20 years old, is the largest ever found in the Yangtze River. Another of the same species was caught in the city of Yichang in Hubei Province in 1993, but was much smaller and only lived for a fortnight.
The fish rescued this month survived a 10-hour operation and is no longer in a critical condition. But it is still very weak and can not eat food unaided.
The rare fish will not be released back into the river. "We will keep it in our research center and carry out experiments on manual propagation," said Wei. But likely it will be sent to Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, where advanced equipment and marine experts are available, when it recovers.
Experts have invited the public to find the fish a "spouse," although the sex of the fish has not yet been determined. The initial examination suggested it is a female, but the scientists will not know for sure until the fish is in a better condition and can undergo a thorough check.
Though it is theoretically possible to clone Chinese paddlefish, there is no plan to do so in the near future.
(China Daily December 20, 2002)
