Dabry's sturgeon

Dabry's sturgeon (Sinosturio dabryanus), also known as the Yangtze sturgeon, Changjiang sturgeon and river sturgeon, is a species of fish in the sturgeon family, Acipenseridae. It is endemic to China and today restricted to the Yangtze River basin, but was also recorded from the Yellow River basin in the past. It was a food fish 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 by the IUCN as of July 21, 2022.

Taxonomy

Prior to 2025, it was placed in the genus Acipenser, but this placement was long found to be paraphyletic. In 2025, it was moved to the revived genus Sinosturio. It is the type species of the genus.

Appearance

This sturgeon has been known to reach Template:Cvt in length, but it is usually much smaller. Its body is blue-gray above and yellowish white on the belly, with five rows of scutes. The head is triangular and the snout is long with the mouth located on the underside. There are two pairs of barbels.

Behavior

The fish lives in slow-moving river waters over substrates of sand and mud. It feeds on aquatic plants, invertebrates, and small fish. This species is potamodromous, taking part in a migration, 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, as well as some lakes attached to the system. By the late 20th century, it was extirpated from the lower river and limited to the upper reaches in Sichuan. The main causes of its drastic decline include overfishing, including the overharvesting of juveniles. The construction of dams, notably the Gezhouba Dam and Three Gorges Dam, blocked the movement of the fish along the river, restricting it to the upper reaches. It also caused habitat fragmentation and degradation. Increased development and deforestation on land near the river has increased pollution from wastewater 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 of the species.

On June 7th, 2024, the China Three Gorges Corporation released over 800,000 individuals bred in captivity into the Yangtze River in Yibin with plans to continue breeding them with future mass releases in the future.

On April 13th, 2025, the same scientists confirmed the first wild reproduction of this species after significant efforts to cultivate the correct conditions for the sturgeon to spawn. Three days later, on April 16th, the first wild hatchlings had been spotted, proving that reintroduction of the sturgeon to the wild is possible.

File:Specimen of a Dabry's sturgeon, Museum of Hydrobiological Sciences, Wuhan Institute of Hydrobiology.jpg

A specimen of Sinosturio dabryanus exhibited in the Museum of Hydrobiological Sciences of Wuhan Institute of Hydrobiology

See also

• List of endangered and protected species of China
• Chinese sturgeon (Sinosturio sinensis)
• Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gladius)