Critically Endangered
Hucho bleekeri
Hucho bleekeri
Hucho bleekeri, the Sichuan taimen, is a freshwater fish in the salmon family (Salmonidae), endemic to the Yangtze basin in China.
Appearance
The Sichuan taimen typically has a dark black, dorsal, and adipose fin. A silvery white underside, and small, irregular dark spots across the body, head, and gill cover. Their coloring can range from a darker orange/red, to a lighter tan/yellow depending on stage of life.
Range and habitat
Sichuan taimen are endemic to the Yangtze basin in China. The Sichuan taimen predominantly inhabits fast-flowing streams with sandy or gravel bottoms. The species prefers mountain brooks at 700–3,300 m (2,300– 10,800 ft) meters above sea level with high dissolved oxygen (>5 mg/L), and a low water temperature (less than 15 °C or 59 °F).
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet
Salmonids need cold, oxygenated water and a clean gravel or open-lake feeding ground. Endemic whitefishes collapse when the lake is eutrophied or fished out.
In crisis
This is reflected in the low number of closely related mtDNA haplotypes, the values of that are similar to those reported in other endangered taimen species. According to the IUCN, the Sichuan taimen is threatened mostly by habitat loss from the construction of hydropower stations, erosion of soil due to deforestation, road construction, sand excavation, and illegal fishing. Recent studies have estimated the species has endured a 50–80% decline in population over the past three generations, and the decline is expected to continue at a rate of at least 20% over the next two generations (~34 years).
An estimated 2,000 to 2,500 mature individuals remain in the wild. A major driver of Sichuan population decline is habitat loss.
Hucho bleekeri is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Hucho bleekeri, Wikidata item Q3272198. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
