Chinese sturgeon

The Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) is a large anadromous acipenserid, adults measuring 2–4 m and 200–500 kg and bearing five rows of bony scutes. It formerly ranged through the East China Sea and the Yangtze, Pearl and other rivers; only the Yangtze population survives, its spawning grounds reduced to about 30 km at Yichang after the Gezhouba dam. Adults enter the estuary in July and August and ascend roughly 2,800 km to spawn the following autumn on gravel at 18–20 degrees Celsius. The IUCN assessed it as Critically Endangered; in 2025 only 11 spawners were estimated below the dam.