Scientists from the Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB) of Chinese Academy of Sciences kicked off the research on cowfish in Poyang Lakein eastern Jiangxi Province on Friday, to protect the endangered species.
Specialists plan to catch cowfishes in the country's largest freshwater lake and obtain their blood and tissue samples for molecular biology research. Meanwhile, complete physical examination will be carried out on the animals.
Two of the caught cowfishes will be sent to White Dolphin Museum in IHB with the approval of Jiangxi Fishery Administration. Then the animals under state second class protection will be reared in captivity. Scientists may carry out further research on their communication, breeding, migration and survival rules through obtaining DNA and artificial feeding.
Cowfish is an independent subspecies living in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River as well as in the Poyang Lake. The species is the only known group living in fresh water in the world. However, there are about 1,400 cowfishes remaining in the Yangtze River, half of the number of early 1990s.
