''Elopichthys bambusa'', the yellowcheek or kanyu (), is a large

cyprinid Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest ver ...

fish that is found in freshwater habitats in eastern Asia. It ranges from the Amur River in Russia, through China to the

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

and Lam Rivers in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. It prefers relatively warm waters, entirely avoiding colder highlands. It is considered an important food fish where it occurs, reaching up to in

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

and in weight. This fish spawns in the summer, mainly in streams in places like the mid-Amur,

Songhua The Songhua or Sunghwa River (also Haixi or Xingal, russian: Сунгари ''Sungari'') is one of the primary rivers of China, and the longest tributary of the Amur The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black ...

and

Ussuri The Ussuri or Wusuli (russian: Уссури; ) is a river that runs through Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais, Russia and the southeast region of Northeast China. It rises in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, flowing north and forming part of the ...

basins. In the Amur, young are found in the lower sections. They mature after 6 years, and after this time they tend to live in floodplains and winter in the main rivers. They mainly consume smaller fish. From the 1970s to 1990s, the population of yellowcheeks drastically decreased, but in the 2010s the population has been observed to increase. The species appears to have disappeared entirely from the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...

basin. Major threats are dam construction, pollution, and overfishing. However, little is known about the overall trends of this species. As of 2012 there were no conservation measures in place, and it is unknown if such measures are necessary.

References

Cyprinid fish of Asia Fish described in 1845 {{Cyprinidae-stub