Threatened fishes of the world: Cyprinus pellegrini pellegrini Tchang, 1933 (Cyprinidae)

Abstract

Common name: Boshi carp (or Barbless carp). Conservation status: Listed as a Grade II State Protected Species in China; listed as vulnerable species in China Red Data Book of Endangered Animal— Pieces (Yue and Chen 1998). Identification: Body elongate; head large and broad; mouth large and terminal; eyes on upper half of head; barbels absent or with a pair of papilla at corners of mouth; scales rather large. Lateral line scales 34–37. Dorsal fin grayish dark, paired and caudal fins light yellow; lower lobe of caudal fin red (Yue and Chen 1998). Illustration: Xianwen (1982). Distribution: Endemic to China, in plateau lakes, Xingyun Lake and Qilu Lake of the Nanpanjiang River system, Yunnan province (Li et al. 1995). Habit and ecology: Lives in upper and middle layers of the deep parts of lakes in calm water (Yue and Chen 1998). Filter-feeder, feeding mainly on zooplankton, but its feeding apparatus is less developed and less powerful (filters less water) than those of bighead and silver carp (Cao 1992). It is highly sensitive to low temperatures (Sun and Liang 2004). Reproduction: Spawning period from April to September, peak in May and June. Batch spawning, eggs adhere to hydrophytes (Yue and Chen 1998) in shallow water where their larvae grow (Jia et al. 2008). Its major population is located in Jiangchuan Hatchery now (Jia et al. 2008). Fecundity can reach up to 130,000 in 3 to 4 year old females (Yue and Chen 1998). Threats: Wild populations have declined dramatically in recent decades from environmental fluctuations; slow growth rate; habitat destruction and loss of spawning grounds by decreasing of hydrophytes because of declining water levels; overfishing; and especially the invasion of exotic species (Jia et al. 2008). The proportion of barbless carp in the total fish yield declined to 20% in the 1960s, to 10% in the early 1970s, and now to less than 1% since the 1980s (Huang 1997). Conservation action: Transplanting, domestication and artificial reproduction have been carried out in Jiangchuan County and Yuanjiang County of Yunnan province (Yue and Chen 1998). Conservation activities were conducted in Heilongjiang Fishery Institute of CAFS Environ Biol Fish (2009) 86:485–486 DOI 10.1007/s10641-009-9558-4