The family history of paddlefish is even longer.
Tuna (white sturgeon) once occupied an important and special position in Chinese history and culture. In the collection of poems from the early Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle Spring and Autumn Period (11th century BC to 6th century BC), " There are many records about tuna in the Book of Songs. Even in ancient times, huge paddlefish were not easy to see. Coupled with the myths in ancient poetry, the paddlefish was covered with a mysterious veil.
The image of paddlefish used for sacrifices also frequently appears in cultural relics, such as the paddlefish-patterned gold belt found in the Jinsha ruins, which depicts the long snouts of two large fish. It is a typical feature of the paddlefish, indicating the special status of the paddlefish in the ancient Shu culture 3,000 years ago.
Introduction to the paddlefish
The paddlefish is a fish of the family Acipensidae and the genus Paddlefish. The body length is 2 to 3 meters, the weight is 200 to 300 kilograms, and the largest body length can reach 7.5 meters. White sturgeon is a large carnivorous fish that lives in the Yangtze River and is unique to China. In ancient China, white sturgeons were called tuna, and they traveled up rivers to lay eggs in spring.
It is mainly produced in the trunk and tributaries of the Yangtze River in China from Yibin to the Yangtze River Estuary. It is also found in the Qiantang River and the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It is a rare and precious animal specializing in China. It is a national first-level wild protected animal and is known as the "Giant Panda in the Water". According to news on January 2, 2020, the Yangtze River paddlefish failed to enter 2020 and was declared extinct on December 23, 2019. On the evening of July 21, 2022, the International Union for Conservation of Nature released a global species red catalog update report, declaring the paddlefish extinct.