The last giants of the Yangtze River: A multidisciplinary picture of what remains of the endemic Chinese sturgeon

Elisa Boscari; Jinming Wu; Tao Jiang; Shuhuan Zhang; Silvia Cattelan; Chengyou Wang; Hao Du; Chuangju Li; Junyi Li; Rui Ruan; Junmin Xu; Yueping Zheng; Stefano Dalle Palle; Jian Yang; Leonardo Congiu; Qiwei Wei

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157011

The last giants of the Yangtze River: A multidisciplinary picture of what remains of the endemic Chinese sturgeon

Sci Total Environ. 2022 Oct 15:843:157011. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157011. Epub 2022 Jun 27.

Authors

Elisa Boscari¹, Jinming Wu², Tao Jiang³, Shuhuan Zhang⁴, Silvia Cattelan⁵, Chengyou Wang², Hao Du², Chuangju Li², Junyi Li², Rui Ruan², Junmin Xu⁶, Yueping Zheng⁷, Stefano Dalle Palle⁵, Jian Yang³, Leonardo Congiu⁸, Qiwei Wei⁹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan 430223, China; Ecology Research Unit, Department of Biology, University of Padua, Padova 35131, Italy.
² Key Laboratory of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan 430223, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Fishery Ecological Environment Assessment and Resource Conservation in Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River, Freshwater Fisheries Research Center, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province 214081, China.
⁴ Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guiyang 550025, China.
⁵ Ecology Research Unit, Department of Biology, University of Padua, Padova 35131, Italy.
⁶ Shenzhen Key Lab of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, BGI Academy of Marine Sciences, BGI Marine, BGI, Shenzhen 518083, China.
⁷ Shanghai Aquatic Wildlife Conservation and Research Center, Chongming, Shanghai 200003, China.
⁸ Ecology Research Unit, Department of Biology, University of Padua, Padova 35131, Italy. Electronic address: leonardo.congiu@unipd.it.
⁹ Key Laboratory of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan 430223, China; Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guiyang 550025, China.

PMID: 35772549
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157011

Abstract

The Chinese sturgeon, an important endemism of the Yangtze River, belongs to 'the most critically endangered group of species' worldwide, with overfishing and habitat destruction being the main drivers towards extinction. Newly obtained microchemical comparisons between animals and water from different river locations revealed a probable shifting of the spawning ground few kilometers downstream compared to the only previously known site, located under the Gezhouba Dam. This offers a glimmer of hope for an adaptive response to habitat perturbation caused by the recently built Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze River. On the other hand, genetic data provide an estimate of about 20 breeders participating in the only significant breeding event of the past 10 years. This warns of a near species extinction forecast if no in situ and ex situ conservation efforts occur promptly. Given these results we propose a list of priority conservation actions that urgently need to be promoted, supported, and put into practice.

Keywords: Acipenser sinensis residual population; Elemental analyses, genetic analyses; Gezhouba dam; Three-Georges dam; Yangtze River.

MeSH terms

Animals
China
Conservation of Natural Resources*
Fisheries*
Fishes / physiology
Rivers