Pseudoscaphirhynchus fedtschenkoi
| Kingdom |
Phylum |
Class |
Order |
Family |
| ANIMALIA |
CHORDATA |
ACTINOPTERYGII |
ACIPENSERIFORMES |
ACIPENSERIDAE |
| Scientific Name: |
Pseudoscaphirhynchus fedtschenkoi |
| Species Authority: |
(Kessler, 1872) |
Common Name/s:
| English |
– |
Syr-darya Shovelnose Sturgeon, Syr Darya Sturgeon |
| French |
– |
Nez-pelle du Syr Daria |
|
| Synonym/s: |
Scaphirhynchus fedtschenkoi Kessler, 1872
|
Assessment Information
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| Red List Category & Criteria: |
Critically Endangered
C2a(i,ii); D
ver 3.1
|
| Year Published: |
2010 |
| Assessor/s: |
Mugue, N. |
| Reviewer/s: |
Pourkazemi, M. & Smith, K. |
| Contributor/s: |
|
Justification:
The species has not been recorded since 1960s. It is suspected that the species is extinct but more survey work is needed to confirm this.
|
| History: |
| 1996 |
– |
Critically Endangered
|
|
Geographic Range
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| Range Description: |
The Syr-darya Shovelnose Sturgeon is an endemic of the Syr Darya River, and is found in the middle and lower reaches from
the Kara Darya River downstream (Birstein 1997, Red List of Khazakstan
1996). |
| Countries: |
Possibly extinct: Kazakhstan; Tajikistan; Uzbekistan |
| Range Map: |
Click here to open the map viewer and explore range. |
Population
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| Population: |
There have been no reports of the species since the 1960s, and it is believed to be probably extinct. Surveys have been undertaken (Kazakhstan fisheries surveys), and though the data is not accessible, it is believed that it has not been recorded since the 1960s.
|
| Population Trend: |
Unknown
|
Habitat and Ecology
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| Habitat and Ecology: |
Little information is available. Adults were benthophagous feeding mostly on midge larvae and spawning took place during late April (Birstein 1997). The generation length for this species is unknown, but it is estimated to be between 8 to 10 years (Chebanov pers. comm.). The species is thought to be able to feed in the Aral sea (historically) but is adapted to live in freshwater (Bemis and Kynard 1997).
|
| Systems: |
Freshwater |
| Major Threat(s): |
The Aral Sea has shrunk by more than 60% from 1973 to 2000 (NASA 2008) and is now hypersaline, and contains no fishes apart from in a small reservoir in the northeast of the Sea. The Syr Darya River has not reached the sea since 1975 due to large levels of water extraction and damming (Zholdasova 1997). Agricultural pollution has also impacted the quality of the water.
|
Conservation Actions
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| Conservation Actions: |
Full survey work is needed to confirm the species is actually extinct.
This fish has been listed in The Red Data Book of Kazakhstan since 1978. Protected areas need to be established in those sites where remnant populations might still exist. Some genomic material has been cryopreserved: live specimens should be collected and propagated in order to preserve more of its genome (Red List of Kazakhstan). This species was listed on CITES Appendix II in 1998.
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