Chinese high-fin banded shark
| Chinese high-fin banded shark | |
|---|---|
| Juveniles | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cypriniformes |
| Family: | Catostomidae |
| Subfamily: | Myxocyprininae Fowler, 1958 |
| Genus: | Myxocyprinus (T. N. Gill, 1878) |
| Species: | M. asiaticus |
| Binomial name | |
| Myxocyprinus asiaticus (Bleeker, 1865) | |
| Synonyms | |
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The Chinese high-fin banded shark (Myxocyprinus asiaticus) is a popular freshwater aquarium fish that belongs to the family Catostomidae. It grows to about 1.35 m (4 ft 5 in) long and is unsuitable for most home aquariums.
In addition to Chinese high-fin banded shark, it is also known under many other common names, including Chinese banded shark, Chinese sailfin sucker, high-fin (also spelled hi-fin) banded loach, high-fin loach, Chinese high-fin sucker, sailfin sucker, topsail sucker, Asian sucker, Chinese sucker, wimple carp, wimple, freshwater batfish, Hilsa herring, rough fish, Chinese or Asian zebra high-fin shark, Chinese or Asian zebra high-fin sucker, Chinese emperor, Siamese sucker, Chinese banded shark, and Entsuyui in Japanese. Despite its common names, it bears no relation to real sharks.
It has declined drastically due to pollution, dams (preventing its natural breeding migration), overfishing, introduced species and collection for the aquarium trade. As a consequence it has been placed on the Chinese list of endangered species and is a state protected species.