{{Short description|Species of fish}} {{Speciesbox | image = | status = CR | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Liu, M. |date=2020 |title=''Bahaba taipingensis'' |volume=2020 |article-number=e.T61334A130105307 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T61334A130105307.en |access-date=13 November 2021}}</ref> | taxon = Bahaba taipingensis | authority = (Herre, 1932) | synonyms = {{Specieslist | Nibea taipingensis | Herre, 1932 | Otolithes lini | Herre, 1935 | Nibea flavolabiata | Lin, 1935 | Bahaba flavolabiata | (Lin, 1935) }} | synonyms_ref = <ref name = FishBase>{{FishBase|Bahaba|taipingensis|month=February|year=2023}}</ref> }}
The '''Chinese bahaba''' ('''''Bahaba taipingensis'''''), also known as the '''giant yellow croaker''',<ref name=Moore2012>Moore, M. (21 August 2012). [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9489137/Chinese-fisherman-hooks-300000-fish.html Chinese fisherman hooks £300,000 fish.] The Telegraph. Retrieved 18 May 2019.</ref> is a critically endangered species of marine and brackish water fish in the family Sciaenidae. It is a large fish, reaching lengths up to {{convert|2|m|abbr=on}} and weights of {{convert|100|kg|abbr=on}}.<ref name=FishBase/> 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.<ref name=Wang2009>{{Cite journal | last1 = Wang | first1 = Y. | last2 = Hu | first2 = M. | last3 = Sadovy | first3 = Y. | last4 = Cheung | first4 = S. G. | last5 = Shin | first5 = P. K. S. | title = Threatened fishes of the world: ''Bahaba taipingensis'' Herre, 1932 (Sciaenidae) | doi = 10.1007/s10641-009-9507-2 | journal = Environmental Biology of Fishes | volume = 85 | issue = 4 | pages = 335–336| year = 2009 | bibcode = 2009EnvBF..85..335W | s2cid = 574438 }}</ref>
==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.<ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021" />
==Behaviour== The Chinese bahaba is a benthopelagic fish that feeds mostly on crustaceans such as shrimps and crabs.<ref name=FishBase/>
==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.<ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021" />
The Chinese bahaba is threatened by overfishing and it is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.<ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021" /> Degradation of its estuarine spawning habitats may also have contributed to its decline.<ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021" /><ref name=Sadovy2003>{{Cite journal | last1 = Sadovy | first1 = Y. | last2 = Cheung | first2 = W. L. | doi = 10.1046/j.1467-2979.2003.00104.x | title = Near extinction of a highly fecund fish: the one that nearly got away | journal = Fish and Fisheries | volume = 4 | pages = 86–99| year = 2003 | issue = 1 | bibcode = 2003AqFF....4...86S }}</ref> 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,<ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021" /> and is even announced to the media.<ref name=Moore2012/><ref>Bindley, K. (21 August 2012). [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/473000-bahaba-fish-caught_n_1818083 Bahaba Fish Worth $473,000 Caught, Sold In China.] HuffPost. Retrieved 18 May 2019.</ref><ref>Platt, J. (16 February 2010). {{Cite web |url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=downcast-critically-endangered-baha-2010-02-16 |title=Downcast: Critically endangered bahaba caught and sold for $500,000 |website=Scientific American |access-date=17 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110702110350/http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=downcast-critically-endangered-baha-2010-02-16 |archive-date=2 July 2011 |url-status=bot: unknown }}. Scientific American.</ref> A part of the Pearl River estuary has been protected since 2005 by the Chinese Government in an attempt saving the species.<ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021" /> Unlike the Chinese mainland, there is no legal protection of this species in Hong Kong,<ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021" /> 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.<ref>Christie, L. (14 April 2016). [https://yp.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/103177/ryan-ma-out-save-chinese-bahaba Ryan Ma is out to save the Chinese bahaba.] yp.scmp.com. Retrieved 18 May 2019.</ref> Chinese bahaba caught in Hong Kong are also sometimes transferred to the Chinese mainland where resold.<ref>Reuters (25 April 2008). [https://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSHAR55771320080425 Anglers let big cash bonanza get away]. Retrieved 18 May 2019.</ref> 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.<ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021" /><ref name=Sadovy2003/> 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.<ref name=Juarez2016>Juarez, Lorenzo M.; Pablo A. Konietzko; and Michael H. Schwarz (15 December 2016). [https://www.was.org/articles/Totoaba-Aquaculture-and-Conservation-From-sea-of-cortez.aspx Totoaba Aquaculture and Conservation: Hope for an Endangered Fish from Mexico's Sea of Cortez.] WAS. Retrieved 18 May 2019.</ref><ref>Hance, J. (11 January 2016). [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2016/jan/11/china-aquatic-cocaine-vaquita-totoaba-mexico-endangered-extinct China's craze for 'aquatic cocaine' is pushing two species into oblivion.] The Guardian. Retrieved 18 May 2019.</ref>
==See also== * List of endangered and protected species of China
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q703327}}
Category:Bahaba Category:Endemic fish of China Category:Fauna of Hong Kong Category:Critically endangered fish Category:Critically endangered fauna of Asia Category:Fish described in 1932 Category:Taxa named by Albert William Herre Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Category:Critically endangered fauna of China