中华鲟(Acipenser sinensis Gray)为国家一级重点保护野生动物,典型的溯河洄游产卵鱼类。历史上,中华鲟在长江上游及金沙江下游产卵,由于葛洲坝修建阻隔了其洄游通道,1981年以后在葛洲坝下形成了比较稳定的产卵场,1982―2013年,每年均有自然繁殖发生。由于其栖息生境退化,每年洄游进入长江的中华鲟繁殖亲本逐年减少,2013―2015年连续3年在已知葛洲坝下中华鲟产卵场未监测到中华鲟自然繁殖活动。2016年11―12月的野外监测发现,中华鲟在宜昌葛洲坝下已知产卵场发生了自然繁殖。其中底层网具采集到中华鲟鱼卵(卵膜)67粒、仔鱼22尾;解剖食卵鱼发现,10尾食卵鱼类共摄食中华鲟卵454粒;水下视频观测到5处中华鲟卵黏附底质位点。根据采集到的鱼卵发育期及采集位点推算,产卵时间为2016年11月24日凌晨,产卵场位于葛洲坝大江电厂以下约300 m的江段内,产卵日水温为19.7℃,流量为6610 m3/s,水位为39.7 m。
The critically endangered Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis Gray), a large anadromous fish, is strictly protected in Chinese waters, where it is deemed to be a national treasure. Mature individuals enter the Yangtze River estuary from July to August, before entering their spawning ground the following year from Octo- ber to November. Historically, sturgeon spawned in the upper reaches of the Yangtze and lower reaches of the Jinsha Rivers, but construction of Gezhouba Dam (the first dam in the Yangtze mainstream) blocked this migratory route. A relatively stable spawning ground has since developed below this dam. From 1982, the Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute has conducted annual monitoring of natural breeding of sturgeon within the newly formed spawning ground. Between 1982 and 2013, sturgeon spawned annually, though both fecundity and frequency of reproduction declined. Whereas the number of mature fish arriving at the spawning ground annually exceeded 2 000 individuals in the early 1980 s (near the closure of Gezhouba Dam), it also dropped to fewer than 100 individuals in recent years. Prior to impoundment of the Three Gorges Reservoir (1984-2003), sturgeon spawned on average 1.8 times per year, though this decreased to 1.1 times during impoundment (2004-2012). Although controlled propagation and augmentation of sturgeon stocks has been performed from as early as 1983, both mark-recapture and molecular genetic identification reveal more than 90% of juvenile A. sinensis within the Yangtze estuary originated from natural reproduction. Thus, it is critical that natural reproduction of the fish may be maintained in the only knowing spawning ground. Though there was an apparent interruption in sturgeon spawning between 2013 and 2015 at this only known spawning ground, we report a resumption of spawning in 2016, during which time 67 egg (or egg membrane) and 22 larval sturgeon were collected by bottom draft-net, and 454 eggs were found in the stomachs of 10 egg-preying fishes. U