Research advances in diversity and conservation science of freshwater fish in China

Abstract

In China, as elsewhere, freshwater fishes are facing considerable threats due to climate change and anthropogenic activities, including habitat modification, water pollution, over-fishing, and non-native fish introductions (Best, 2019;Feio et al., 2023). As a result, the taxonomic, genetic, and functional diversities of freshwater fishes in China have been negatively impacted. To fulfill China's Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan (2011-2030), it is important to have a comprehensive understanding of freshwater fishes and aquatic ecosystems in China, especially with regard to threatened species and protected areas. This is essential to inform management strategies to mitigate impacts on ecosystems critical to fish fauna and to protect and conserve endemic and threatened native fish species. This special issue includes two papers dealing with the fish diversity at a national and regional scale, four papers regarding new taxa or new records of fishes, five studies about the life history and the general biology of fishes, and two papers focused on technologies in fisheries and fish conservation.