Mysterious "monster" found only in Southeast Asia has just been declared extinct

This recently "man-made extinct" marine fish, with the scientific name Urolophus javanicus, is commonly known as the Java stingray or Java ray.

This species, about the size of a dinner plate, was first known from a specimen in a Jakarta fish market in 1862.

The Javan stingray is thought to inhabit the northern shores of the Java Sea, particularly Jakarta Bay, Indonesia. However, the impact of heavy industrialization has caused the area to fall into a state of imbalance and severe habitat degradation. These impacts are considered "severe enough to unfortunately cause the extinction of this species".

“Intense and unregulated fishing is likely to be a major threat to the decline of Javan stingray populations,” the IUCN report said.

Not only the Java ray or marine fish in general, but the decline of aquatic species in all environments is happening as predicted by scientists. A series of freshwater fish are also "precariously" on the brink of extinction according to the current list.

According to the update, a quarter of all freshwater fish species are now classified as “endangered”, with 20% directly affected by climate change.

Freshwater fish now account for more than half of the world's known fish species, a puzzling diversity given that freshwater ecosystems make up only 1% of aquatic habitats, said Kathy Hughes, co-chair of the Freshwater Fish Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC), in Science Alert.

These diverse species are integral to the ecosystem and are important to the overall resilience of that ecosystem, which could have serious impacts if they became extinct.

Minh Hoa (according to Dan Tri, Nguoi Lao Dong)

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