Editing Chinese paddlefish (section)

{{Short description|Extinct species of fish}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Chinese paddlefish
| image = A specimen of Psephurus gladius, Museum of Hydrobiological Sciences, Wuhan Institute of Hydrobiology (4).jpg
| image_upright = 1.2
| image_caption = Preserved specimens at Museum of Hydrobiological Sciences, [[Institute of Hydrobiology]], [[Wuhan]], China
| status = EX
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn">{{cite iucn |last= Qiwei |first=W. |year=2022 |title=''Psephurus gladius'' |page=e.T18428A146104283 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-2.RLTS.T18428A146104283.en |access-date=21 July 2022}}</ref>
| taxon = Psephurus gladius
| extinct = 2022
| authority = ([[Eduard von Martens|von Martens]], 1862)
| parent_authority = [[Albert C. L. G. Günther|Günther]], 1873
| synonyms = * ''Polyodon gladius'' <small>von Martens, 1862</small>
* ''Spatularia'' (''Polyodon'') ''angustifolium'' <small>Kaup, 1862</small>
* ''Polyodon angustifolium'' <small>(Kaup, 1862)</small>
| synonyms_ref = <ref>{{Cite web |last1=Froese |first1=R. |last2=Pauly |first2=D. |year=2017 |title=Polydontidae |website=[[FishBase]] version (02/2017) |url=http://www.fishbase.se/Summary/FamilySummary.php?ID=33 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824024508/http://www.fishbase.se/Summary/FamilySummary.php?ID=33 |archive-date=24 August 2017 |access-date=18 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Polydontidae |website=Deeplyfish- fishes of the world |url=http://deeplyfish.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Family-Polyodontidae-PDF.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824024507/http://deeplyfish.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Family-Polyodontidae-PDF.pdf |archive-date=24 August 2017 |access-date=18 May 2017}}</ref>
}}

The '''Chinese paddlefish''' ('''''Psephurus gladius'''''; {{zh|t=白鱘|s=白鲟|p=báixún}}: literal translation: "white [[sturgeon]]"), also known as the '''Chinese swordfish''', is an [[Extinction|extinct]] [[species]] of fish that was formerly native to the [[Yangtze]] and [[Yellow River]] basins in China. With records of specimens over {{Convert|3|m|ft|0|spell=on}} and possibly {{cvt|7|m|ft}} in length, it was one of the [[List of largest fish|largest species of freshwater fish]]. It was the only species in the [[genus]] '''''Psephurus''''' and one of two [[Holocene|recent]] species of [[paddlefish]] (Polyodontidae), the other being the [[American paddlefish]] (''Polyodon spathula''). It was an [[anadromous]] species, meaning that it spent part of its adult life at sea, while migrating upriver to [[Spawn (biology)|spawn]].

The Chinese paddlefish was officially declared extinct in 2022, with an estimated time of extinction to be by 2005, and no later than 2010, although it had become [[functionally extinct]] by 1993.<ref name="iucn" /><ref name="Zhang Jarić Roberts He 2020 p=136242">{{Cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Hui |last2=Jarić |first2=Ivan |last3=Roberts |first3=David L. |last4=He |first4=Yongfeng |last5=Du |first5=Hao |last6=Wu |first6=Jinming |last7=Wang |first7=Chengyou |last8=Wei |first8=Qiwei |year=2020 |title=Extinction of one of the world's largest freshwater fishes: Lessons for conserving the endangered Yangtze fauna |journal=Science of the Total Environment |issn=0048-9697 |publisher=Elsevier BV |bibcode=2020ScTEn.71036242Z |doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136242 |pmid=31911255 |s2cid=210086307 |volume=710 |page=136242}}</ref> The main cause of its extinction was the construction of the [[Gezhouba Dam|Gezhouba]] and [[Three Gorges Dam|Three Gorges]] [[dam]]s, causing [[population fragmentation]] and blocking the anadromous spawning migration. Overfishing also played a significant role in its demise. Fishing of the Chinese paddlefish dates back centuries, with annual harvests reaching 25 tons by the 1970s. Since the 1990s, the species was officially listed by the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] (IUCN) as [[critically endangered]], and was last seen alive in 2003. A 2019 paper including scientists from the [[Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences|Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute]] found the species to be extinct.<ref name="Zhang Jarić Roberts He 2020 p=136242" /> It was unanimously agreed to be extinct by the Species Survival Commission Sturgeon Specialist Group of the IUCN on 15 September 2019,<ref name=IUCN2019>{{Cite web |date=September 2019 |title=The Chinese paddlefish was reevaluated to be extinct |website=IUCN |url=https://www.iucn.org/commissions/ssc-groups/fishes/sturgeon-specialist-group/about-us/regional-activities |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200823183129/https://www.iucn.org/commissions/ssc-groups/fishes/sturgeon-specialist-group/about-us/regional-activities |archive-date=2020-08-23}}</ref> with its conservation status being formally updated by the [[IUCN Red List]] in July 2022.<ref name=Master2022>{{cite news |work=Reuters |first1=Farah |last1=Master |first2=Albee |last2=Zhang |editor-first=Neil |editor-last=Fullick |date=22 July 2022 |title=Chinese Paddlefish and wild Yangtze Sturgeon extinct - IUCN |language=en |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/chinese-paddlefish-wild-yangtze-sturgeon-extinct-iucn-2022-07-22/ |access-date=22 July 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220723155510/https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/chinese-paddlefish-wild-yangtze-sturgeon-extinct-iucn-2022-07-22/ |archive-date=23 July 2022}}</ref>