River giant paddlefish, bigger than the giant Mekong catfish and the Amazon arapaima, vanishes.
the amazon arapaima a.k.a. pirarucu
Along with the Yangtze River Dolphin, the only known freshwater dolphin (this species separated from the other marine mammals like whales 40 to 20 million years ago), the 7 meter long giant Chinese paddlefish joins the growing list of extinct animals. For six long years, scientists have not seen a live species and have failed to find, locate and catch a single fish during its three-year survey. For full story click here
Yangtze river dolphin: the world's only freshwater dolphin.
The yangtze river dolphin, aka baiji, is the first species of cetacean – the group containing all whales, dolphins and porpoises – to have become extinct as a result of human activities. Read here for more accounts and sad story of baiji’s extinction.
Meanwhile, the declining number of the Giant Mekong catfish has prompted scientists to track this critically endangered other freshwater fish in Cambodia. See full story here.
- the giant mekong catfish
One thing that definitely affects these and other migratory species is the altered river systems, i.e. the establishment of dams, aside from massive-scale human environmental impact like uncontrolled and unselective fishing.
The Yangtze river dolphin is not the only river dolphin. There are still Pink River Dolphins (Inia geoffrensis)in the Amazon.