Extinct Fish

List of recently extinct fish

Extinct fish: Data & facts (as of 11/2023)

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) currently lists 87 out of approximately 35,000 known fish species as extinct. However, this number is likely much higher, as many fish species are considered missing and presumed extinct or have not yet been included in the Red List. According to the IUCN list, 867 fish species are threatened with extinction, 12 are extinct in the wild, and for 5,570 species, data are insufficient.

The majority – currently 43 – of the fish species listed as extinct belong to the order Cypriniformes. These include, for example, the Yilong carp from Yilong Lake in China, the blue walleye from Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in North America, and the duck-billed buntingi from Lake Poso in Indonesia. The second-largest group of extinct fish consists of 18 species of salmoniformes, such as the houting, and the third-largest group includes 11 toothcarps (Cyprinodontiformes), among them the Ash Meadows pupfish from Nevada, USA.

All fish listed as extinct by the IUCN belong to the class Actinopterygii, which occurs in both freshwater and marine environments. This diverse group includes trout, perch, and salmon, whose fins maintain their shape and rigidity through hard rays or spines.

Extinct fishes since 1500 – Causes of their disappearance

Many aquatic organisms are found only in specific habitats, such as a lake, spring, or river. The deliberate draining of water bodies, as in the case of Lake Hula in Israel in the 1950s, can lead to the extinction of all organisms inhabiting it. At least two species, the Hula bream carp and the Tristramella intermedia cichlid, have become extinct since then. The construction of dams in rivers can also contribute to the disappearance of species – an example is the Chinese paddlefish, which grew up to three meters long and became extinct between 2005 and 2010, endemic to the Yangtze River.

Other reasons for the extinction of fishes include overfishing, sedimentation, eutrophication due to excessive fertilization of agricultural areas, and water pollution, such as from shipping traffic. Additionally, invasive species introduced into water bodies where they were not previously native often lead to the disappearance of endemic species. The most famous example of this is perhaps the introduction of the Nile perch (Lates niloticus) into Lake Victoria in East Africa in the 1960s, which is suspected to have caused the extinction of about 400 fish species in the lake. Most of these species were cichlids of the genus Haplochromis, referred to by locals as Furu. In Lake Titicaca in Peru and Bolivia, the Lake Titicaca Orestias disappeared in the 1940s or 1950s after the US government released half a million eggs of the lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) into the lake for commercial reasons.

The rise in sea levels or the influence of climate change can also cause the extinction of fish species. An example of this is the Galápagos damsel, which disappeared after the particularly strong El Niño event in 1982/1983. The weather phenomenon led to an increase in water temperature around the Galápagos Islands, which in turn halted plankton production for at least a year. The populations of many fish species that feed on plankton declined significantly during this time.

Extinct fishes are rarely marine species

A large portion of fishes listed as extinct by the IUCN lived in rivers and lakes, not in the ocean. The reason is simple: For smaller, confined bodies of water, it is comparatively easy to determine whether a species still exists there or not. In contrast, due to the boundlessness of the seas, it is difficult to claim that a species is extinct in the ocean. Even the coelacanth, a marine fish, was thought to be extinct for 70 million years until it was rediscovered in 1938.

However, one marine fish that could indeed be extinct is the lost shark (Carcharhinus obsoletus). This species was scientifically described only in 2019, based on three specimens collected in the 1930s. Since the distribution range of the Lost Shark is somewhat unclear and various shark species once believed to be extinct have been rediscovered in the past, there is still hope for the lost shark.

Are there extinct fish species in Europe?

The IUCN currently lists 12 fish species as extinct in Europe, although some of this information is outdated, as the deepwater char (Salvelinus profundus) from Lake Constance was rediscovered in 2014, the Danube delta gudgeon (Romanogobio antipai) in 2016, and the Ukliva dace (Telestes ukliva) was already rediscovered in 1997.

Nevertheless, there are indeed some extinct fish species in Europe. For example, the Lake Constance whitefish disappeared in the 1970s due to pollution and eutrophication of Lake Constance from phosphate inputs from fertilizers and wastewater. Similarly, in Lake Geneva in France and Switzerland, the gravenche and the true fera disappeared in the 1950s due to eutrophication and overfishing.

The jaunet, of which only three specimens are known, once lived in Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland and became extinct around 1904, with the reasons for its disappearance unknown. The disappearance, as well as the existence of the may trout from Lake Attersee, Lake Traun, and Lake Fuschl in Austria, are equally mysterious – it is only known from historical records and a scientific description from 1784.