Chinese paddlefish,
Psephurus gladius , also known as
Chinese swordfish, are among the largest
freshwater fish. It is one of two
extant species in the paddlefish family (
Polyodontidae), the other being the
American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula). It is also called "elephant fish" (象魚; xiàngyú) because its snout resembles an
elephant trunk. It is recorded sometimes in
Classical Chinese as
wěi-fish (鮪). More poetically, it is sometimes referred to as the "Giant Panda of the Rivers", not because of any physical resemblance to a
panda, but because of its rarity and protected status. The origin of its binomial name comes from the Greek words
pseph (pebble) and
phoreus (bearer of), which when combined, also shares the meaning of the Greek word
psepharos (gloomy/cloudy one.)