Chinese Paddlefish (Traditional: 白鱘; Simplified: 白鲟; Pinyin: Báixún) (Psephurus gladius), also known as Chinese Swordfish, is the world's largest freshwater fish, one of the two existent paddlefish species. It is also called "elephant fish" (象魚) because its snout resembles an elephant trunk. Recorded in Classical Chinese sometimes as wei-fish (鮪).
Chinese Paddlefish is the People's Republic of China's first-level protected animal. Its belly is white and back and head grey. They live mostly in the middle or lower part of the Yangtze River, occasionally into large lakes. They feed on other fishes, with a small amount of crabs and crayfish. They are sexually mature at seven or eight, with a body length of 2 metre and 25 kilogram.
It is said that the zoologist Bing Zhi (秉志) recorded around the 1950s that some fishermen caught a paddlefish of 7-metre, although the authenticity of the story is unconfirmed.
Due to overfishing, Chinese Paddlefish is endangered now, and officially recognized by the People's Republic in 1983 to prevent fishing of the paddlefish's young or adult.
They were once given the scientific names of Polyodon gladius and Polyodon angustifolium.
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