99. Leiocassis longirostris
(50cm)

L. longirostris (young)
© 2003 photo by Kim, DaeMin

 Habitat:  Lower reaches of large rivers with mud and sand bottom. Feeds mainly on fish and aquatic insects.

  Range: Native to northeast Asia: North Korea (Cheongcheon and Daedong Rivers), South Korea (Imjin, Han, and Keum Rivers), and eastern China (Huanghe River to the north and Fujian Province to the south).

  Remarks: During the Joseon Dynasty (1392 - 1910) in the Korean Peninsula, this species commercially caught from the lower Keum River was rendered to the kings and royal families. Since 1970s, no report on this species in South Korea, so that it is considered extinct by overfishing. In 2003, Dr. Wanok Lee team of the National Fisheries Research & Development Institute of South Korea had success with artificial breeding of adult fish imported from the Changjiang River (Yangtze River) in China. In 2008, the institute had a stocking event in the lower Keum River which is historically a native habitat of this species.