Neosalanx Explained

Neosalanx is a genus of icefishes native to Eastern Asia, ranging from Korea, through Japan and China, to Vietnam. They inhabit coastal marine waters, estuaries and river basins (including lakes). There are both species that are threatened and species that are widespread.^[1]

They are up to in standard length. Despite their small size they are important food fish, and for this reason there have been attempts of introducing N. pseudotaihuensis, N. taihuensis and N. tangkahkeii to parts of China where not naturally found. Most of these attempted introductions failed, but some were successful and in these places they are now often the most common fish. Feeding on planktonic crustaceans and tiny fish, they have outcompeted certain native fish like Anabarilius grahami, which have become rare and threatened.^{[2] [3] [4] [5]}

Species

Fishbase currently recognizes 10 species in this genus, though N. taihuensis was found to be invalid during the DNA sequencing:

• Neosalanx anderssoni (Rendahl (de), 1923)
• Neosalanx argentea (S. Y. Lin, 1932)
• Neosalanx brevirostris (Pellegrin, 1923)
• Neosalanx hubbsi Wakiya & N. Takahashi, 1937
• Neosalanx jordani Wakiya & N. Takahashi, 1937
• Neosalanx oligodontis N. S. Chen, 1956
• Neosalanx pseudotaihuensis Y. L. Zhang, 1987
• Neosalanx reganius Wakiya & N. Takahashi, 1937
• Neosalanx tangkahkeii (H. W. Wu, 1931) (Chinese icefish)

Genome

The mitochondrial genome of the Neosalanx is 16550 base pairs long.^[6]

Notes and References

1. Zhongsuo, W. . F. Cuizhang . L. Guangchun . 2002 . Biodiversity of Chinese Icefishes (Salangidae) and their conserving strategies . Chinese Biodiversity . 10 . 4 . 416–424 .
2. Kang, B. . J. Deng . Z. Wang . J. Zhang . 2013 . Transplantation of Icefish (Salangidae) in China: Glory or Disaster? . Reviews in Aquaculture . 7 . 1 . 13–27. 10.1111/raq.12047 .
3. Qin, J. . J. Xu . P. Xie . 2007 . Diet overlap between the endemic fish Anabarilius grahami (Cyprinidae) and the exotic noodlefish Neosalanx taihuensis (Salangidae) in Lake Fuxian, China . Journal of Freshwater Ecology . 22 . 3 . 365–370 . 10.1080/02705060.2007.9664165 .
4. Ye, S. . M. Lin . L. Li . J. Liu . L. Song . Z. Li . 2015 . Abundance and spatial variability of invasive fishes related to environmental factors in a eutrophic Yunnan Plateau lake, Lake Dianchi, southwestern China . Environmental Biology of Fishes . 98 . 1 . 209–224. 10.1007/s10641-014-0252-9 .
5. Liu, Z. . 2001 . Diet of the zooplanktivorous icefish Neosalanx pseudotaihuensis Zhang . Hydrobiologia . 459 . 1 . 51–56 . 10.1023/A:1012578919268 .
6. 2015 . Complete mitochondrial genome of Chinese icefish Neosalanx tangkahkeiis (Salmoniformes, Salangidae): comparison reveals Neosalanx taihuensis not a valid name . Mitochondrial DNA . 10.3109/19401736.2015.1015014 .