Chinese bahaba

The Chinese bahaba (Bahaba taipingensis), also known as the giant yellow croaker,[2] is a critically endangered species of marine and brackish water fish in the family Sciaenidae. It is a large fish, reaching lengths up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) and weights of 100 kg (220 lb).[3] It is found on the coast of China, from the Yangtze River estuary southwards to the Pearl River estuary, including the waters of Hong Kong and Macau. Its natural habitats are shallow seas, subtidal aquatic beds, rocky shores, and estuarine waters.[4]

Chinese bahaba
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Acanthuriformes
Family: Sciaenidae
Genus: Bahaba
Species:
B. taipingensis
Binomial name
Bahaba taipingensis
(Herre, 1932)
Synonyms

Nibea taipingensis Herre, 1932

Distribution

The Chinese bahaba is known only from the parts of China from the Yangtze River southwards to Hong Kong. It enters estuaries to spawn and in the past it was seasonally numerous in this habitat. This includes the estuaries of the Yangtze River, the Min River and the Pearl River and around the coast of Zhoushan Island.[1]

Behaviour

The Chinese bahaba is a bentopelagic fish that feeds mostly on crustaceans such as shrimps and crabs.[3]

Conservation status

Annual catches of 50 tonnes were taken in the 1930s, but this had dwindled to 10 tonnes per year by the 1950s and 1960s when few large fish were caught.[1]

The Chinese bahaba is threatened by overfishing and it is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.[1] Degradation of its estuarine spawning habitats may also have contributed to its decline.[1][5] Although listed as a Grade II State Protected Species in China, which is supposed to restrict its capture, the sale of recently caught individuals to very high prices still occurs,[1] and is even announced to the media.[2][6][7] A part of the Pearl River estuary has been protected since 2005 by the Chinese Government in an attempt saving the species.[1] Unlike the Chinese mainland, there is no legal protection of this species in Hong Kong,[1] despite it being rare there, and that the World Wildlife Fund and fisheries scientists at the University of Hong Kong have recommended its protection to the local government.[8] Chinese bahaba caught in Hong Kong are also sometimes transferred to the Chinese mainland where resold.[9] The fishing is prompted by the value placed on the swim bladders of this fish for use in traditional Chinese medicine. In some markets, notably the Chinese markets, a good specimen swim bladder fetches more than its weight in gold.[1][5] As the population of the Chinese bahaba declined, some trade shifted towards the closely related totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi) of Mexico, a species that now also is seriously threatened.[10][11]

See also

References
  1. Ng Wai Chuen & Cheung, W. (2006). "Bahaba taipingensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2006. Retrieved 19 May 2012.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Moore, M. (21 August 2012). Chinese fisherman hooks £300,000 fish. The Telegraph. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  3. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2019). "Bahaba taipingensis" in FishBase. May 2019 version.
  4. Wang, Y.; Hu, M.; Sadovy, Y.; Cheung, S. G.; Shin, P. K. S. (2009). "Threatened fishes of the world: Bahaba taipingensis Herre, 1932 (Sciaenidae)". Environmental Biology of Fishes. 85 (4): 335–336. doi:10.1007/s10641-009-9507-2.
  5. Sadovy, Y.; Cheung, W. L. (2003). "Near extinction of a highly fecund fish: the one that nearly got away". Fish and Fisheries. 4: 86–99. doi:10.1046/j.1467-2979.2003.00104.x.
  6. Bindley, K. (21 August 2012). Bahaba Fish Worth $473,000 Caught, Sold In China. HuffPost. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  7. Platt, J. (16 February 2010). "Downcast: Critically endangered bahaba caught and sold for $500,000". Archived from the original on 2 July 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2010.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Scientific American.
  8. Christie, L. (14 April 2016). Ryan Ma is out to save the Chinese bahaba. yp.scmp.com. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  9. Reuters (25 April 2008). Anglers let big cash bonanza get away. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  10. Juarez, Lorenzo M.; Pablo A. Konietzko; and Michael H. Schwarz (15 December 2016). Totoaba Aquaculture and Conservation: Hope for an Endangered Fish from Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. WAS. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  11. Hance, J. (11 January 2016). China's craze for 'aquatic cocaine' is pushing two species into oblivion. The Guardian. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
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