Poyang Lake is located in the Jiangxi Province of China, and is one of the nation’s largest freshwater bodies. It has undergone many environmental changes through the years and has been a home to a wide variety of fish species. To protect the various fish species, fishing has been banned since 2002. Below are just three strange fish that inhabit China’s Poyang Lake.
1. Chinese Perch
The Chinese perch, sometimes called the mandarin fish (not to be confused with the rainbow-colored goby of saltwater origin), is one strange fish that has made its home in Poyang Lake. It’s a member of the Percichthyidae family and its body is colored by black splotches with a green, yellow or brown back. It has a spiny dorsal fin and small, rounded scales and typically inhabits still water though they spend winter in deep water. The recorded maximum length of this fish is 50 centimeters.
2. Chinese High Fin Banded Shark
The Chinese high fin banded shark is another strange fish species in the lake. It’s a fish that migrates into and out of the lake and is a member of the Catostomidae family. Larger than the mandarin fish, its average length is 1.3 meters and it is an endangered species in China. These fish exhibit unique color changes during mating season. For example, adult females have a dark purple coloring with a reddish stripe and adult males have a red coloring. They also have high dorsal fins going to the back of the anal fin that are triangular in shape. This species becomes darker in color as it ages and is known to shift its coloring with its mood. Its natural life span is over twenty five years.
3. Chinese Paddlefish
The third strange fish that inhabits Poyang Lake is the Chinese paddlefish. This species is feared to possibly be extinct at this time because of the lack of sightings since 2003, but there is an effort to save the megafish. On average, an adult paddlefish reaches a length of seven meters and is quite thick. This made it a primary target for many hungry families and ancient emperors. Paddlefish feed on crustaceans and small fish. Their snout gave them their name as it looks like a paddle. It contains sensors that are used to locate their food sources.
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