📸 PhotoPhoto: Nicole T. K. Kit. · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Chinese sucker
Myxocyprinus asiaticus (Chinese sucker · イェンツーユイ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its maximum total length of 68 cm is slightly longer than two 30 cm rulers (Comparison).
- 💡 Its maximum weight of 4 kg is slightly lighter than a 5 kg bag of rice (Comparison).
- 💡 FishBase notes that both commercial fisheries and aquaculture are practiced for this species.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The Chinese sucker is a freshwater fish living only in the Yangtze River basin of China, notable for the red band along its flanks. Its IUCN assessment is Vulnerable (VU, 2023).
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Juveniles have 3 oblique dark bands on a brown body, whereas adults turn red in males and dark purple in females, developing a broad rouge-red band across the side of the body. Its dorsal fin is high and triangular, and its lips are thick without barbels.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It is a potamodromous freshwater fish that migrates within rivers and lives near the bottom. It is caught commercially and also farmed.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List VU (2023) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/203326418/203326423
- • IUCN Red List category VU — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — 6S576
- • iucnredlist.org — 203326423
- • wikidata.org — Q1578992
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Myxocyprinus-asiaticus-Catostomidae-juveniles-body-leng
- • fishbase.se — Myxocyprinus-asiaticus.html
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — author not recorded · CC0 1.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.