Extinct Fish

To the list of recently extinct fish

Extinct Fish: Facts & Figures (As of: 10/2025)

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) currently lists 91 of approximately 35,000 known fish species as extinct. However, this number is likely significantly higher, as many fish species are considered lost and presumably extinct or have not yet been added to the Red List. According to the IUCN list, 881 fish species are endangered, 11 are extinct in the wild, and for as many as 5,422 species, the data is insufficient.

Most – currently 45 – fish species listed as extinct belong to the order Cypriniformes. These include, for example, the Yilong carp from Yilong Lake in China, the Blue Pike from Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in North America, and the Duckbill Splitfin from Lake Poso in Indonesia. The second largest group of extinct fish, with 18 species, are the Salmoniformes, such as the North Sea Houting, and the third largest group includes 11 Cyprinodontiformes, among them the Ash Meadows Killifish from Nevada, USA.

Almost all fish listed as extinct by the IUCN belong to the class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish), which occur in both fresh and saltwater. This diverse group includes trout, perch, and salmon, whose fins derive their shape and strength from hard rays or spines. In addition to ray-finned fish, one species from the class Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) is currently considered globally extinct: the Java Stingaree (Urolophus javanicus).

Fish Extinct Since 1500 – The Causes of Their Disappearance

Many aquatic organisms are found only in specific habitats, such as a lake, a spring, or a 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 living there. At least two species, the carp Acanthobrama hulensis and the cichlid Tristramella intermedia, have since become extinct. The construction of dams in rivers can also contribute to the disappearance of species – an example is the Chinese Paddlefish, up to three meters long, which was endemic to the Yangtze River and became extinct between 2005 and 2010.

Further reasons for the extinction of fish include overfishing, sedimentation, eutrophication due to excessive fertilization of agricultural land, and water pollution, for example, from shipping. However, invasive species introduced into waters where they were not previously native also frequently lead to the disappearance of endemic species there. The most famous example of this is probably the Nile Perch (Lates niloticus), released into Lake Victoria in East Africa in the 1960s, which caused the extinction of an estimated 400 fish species in the lake. Most of these species were cichlids of the genus Haplochromis, referred to as Furu by locals (e.g., Haplochromis vonlinnei). In Lake Titicaca in Peru and Bolivia, the Titicaca Orestias disappeared in the 1940s or 1950s after the US government released half a million eggs of the American Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) into the lake for commercial reasons.

The rise in sea level or the impact of climate change can also cause the extinction of fish species. An example is the Galapagos Reef Fish, which disappeared after the particularly strong El Niño of 1982/1983. This weather phenomenon led to an increase in water temperature around the Galapagos Islands, which in turn halted plankton production for at least a year. The populations of many fish species that feed on plankton declined sharply during this period.

Extinct Fish Are Rarely Marine Fish

A large proportion of the fish listed as extinct by the IUCN lived in rivers and lakes, not in the sea. The reason for this is simple: for smaller, confined bodies of water, it is relatively easy to determine whether a species still exists there or not. In contrast, due to the boundlessness of the oceans, it is difficult to claim that a species is extinct in the sea. Marine coelacanths were also thought to have been extinct for 70 million years until they were rediscovered in 1938.

One marine fish that might actually be extinct, however, is the Lost Shark (Carcharhinus obsoletus). This species was only scientifically described in 2019, based on three specimens collected in the 1930s. However, since the distribution area of the Lost Shark is more or less unclear and various shark species previously thought 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 19 fish species as extinct in Europe, with two species from Germany being classified as globally extinct for the first time since the update of the IUCN Red List in October 2024: the Chiemsee Renke (Coregonus hoferi) and the Starnberg Renke (Coregonus renke). The update also removed outdated information on previously rediscovered fish species. This concerns the Lake Constance Deepwater Char (Salvelinus profundus), which was rediscovered in 2014, the carp Romanogobio antipai from Romania, found again in 2016, and the Ukliva Minnow (Telestes ukliva) from Croatia, which was already documented again in 1997.

Among the fish species extinct in Europe are, for example, the Lake Constance Kilch, which disappeared in the 1970s due to pollution and eutrophication of Lake Constance from phosphate inputs via fertilizers and wastewater. In Lake Geneva in France and Switzerland, the Gravenche and the Féra also became extinct 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, although the reasons for its disappearance are unknown. The disappearance and existence of the May Trout from Lake Atter, Lake Traun, and Lake Fuschl in Austria are equally mysterious – it is only known from historical records and a first scientific description from 1784. Since October 2024, the IUCN lists the May Trout as an extinct fish species.

Detailed pages are available for the following fish:

• Chinese Paddlefish
• Haplochromis vonlinnei (Cichlid)
• Hula bream
• Lake Constance whitefish