Editing Aral Sea (section)

=== Native fish ===
Despite its former vast size, the Aral Sea had relatively low indigenous [[biodiversity]]. However, the Aral Sea basin had an exceptional array of [[endemic]] fish [[subspecies]] (including three endemic [[sturgeon]] species). Most of these still survive in the North Aral Sea, but some, such as the sturgeons, have been greatly reduced or even driven to [[extirpation]] by the lake's shrinkage. Native fish species of the lake included 

* [[ship sturgeon]] (''Acipenser nudiventris'')
* all three ''[[Pseudoscaphirhynchus]]'' sturgeon species
* [[Brown trout|Aral trout]] (''Salmo trutta aralensis'')
* [[northern pike]] (''Esox lucius'')
* [[Ide (fish)|ide]] (''Leuciscus idus oxianus'')
* [[Asp (fish)|asp]] (''Aspius aspius iblioides'')
* [[common rudd]] (''Scardinius erythropthalmus'')
* [[Turkestan barbel]] (''Luciobarbus capito conocephalus'') 
* [[Aral barbel]] (''L. brachycephalus brachycephalus'') 
* [[common bream]] (''Abramis brama orientalis'')
* [[White-eye bream|white-eyed bream]] (''Ballerus sapa aralensis'')
* [[Danube bleak]] (''Chalcalburnus chalcoides aralensis'')
* [[ziege]] (''Pelecus cultratus'')
* [[crucian carp]] (''Carassius carassius gibelio'')
* [[common carp]] (''Cyprinus carpio aralensis'')
* [[Wels catfish]] (''Silurus glanis'')
* [[Ukrainian stickleback]] (''Pungitius platygaster aralensis'')
* [[zander]] (''Sander lucioperca'')
* [[European perch]] (''Perca fluviatilis'')
* [[Eurasian ruffe]] (''Gymnocephalus cernuus'')

All these fish aside from the stickleback lived an [[Wiktionary:anadromous|anadramous]] or semi-anadromous lifestyle.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=Aladin|first1=Nikolay Vasilevich|last2=Gontar|first2=Valentina Ivanovna|last3=Zhakova|first3=Ljubov Vasilevna|last4=Plotnikov|first4=Igor Svetozarovich|last5=Smurov|first5=Alexey Olegovich|last6=Rzymski|first6=Piotr|last7=Klimaszyk|first7=Piotr|date=2019|title=The zoocenosis of the Aral Sea: six decades of fast-paced change|journal=Environmental Science and Pollution Research International|volume=26|issue=3|pages=2228–2237|doi=10.1007/s11356-018-3807-z|issn=0944-1344|pmc=6338704|pmid=30484051|bibcode=2019ESPR...26.2228A }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Nedoluzhko|first1=Artem V.|last2=Sharko|first2=Fedor S.|last3=Tsygankova|first3=Svetlana V.|last4=Boulygina|first4=Eugenia S.|last5=Barmintseva|first5=Anna E.|last6=Krasivskaya|first6=Anna A.|last7=Ibragimova|first7=Amina S.|last8=Gruzdeva|first8=Natalia M.|last9=Rastorguev|first9=Sergey M.|last10=Mugue|first10=Nikolai S.|date=2020-01-20|title=Molecular phylogeny of one extinct and two critically endangered Central Asian sturgeon species (genus Pseudoscaphirhynchus ) based on their mitochondrial genomes|journal=Scientific Reports|language=en|volume=10|issue=1|page=722|doi=10.1038/s41598-020-57581-y|pmid=31959974|pmc=6971001|bibcode=2020NatSR..10..722N|issn=2045-2322|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Nedoluzhko|first1=Artem V.|last2=Sharko|first2=Fedor S.|last3=Tsygankova|first3=Svetlana V.|last4=Boulygina|first4=Eugenia S.|last5=Barmintseva|first5=Anna E.|last6=Krasivskaya|first6=Anna A.|last7=Ibragimova|first7=Amina S.|last8=Gruzdeva|first8=Natalia M.|last9=Rastorguev|first9=Sergey M.|last10=Mugue|first10=Nikolai S.|date=2020-01-20|title=Molecular phylogeny of one extinct and two critically endangered Central Asian sturgeon species (genus Pseudoscaphirhynchus ) based on their mitochondrial genomes|journal=Scientific Reports|language=en|volume=10|issue=1|pages=722|doi=10.1038/s41598-020-57581-y|pmid=31959974|pmc=6971001|bibcode=2020NatSR..10..722N|issn=2045-2322|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The salinity increase and drying of the lake led to the [[local extinction]] of the Aral trout, ruffe, Turkestan barbel, and all sturgeon species, and dams now block their return and migration routes; the Aral trout and [[Syr Darya sturgeon]] (''Pseudoscaphirhynchus fedtschenkoi'') may be extinct due to their restricted range.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Red List of Kazakhstan ::: Aral trout (Salmo trutta aralensis)|url=http://www.redbookkz.info/species.php?lang=en&num=66|access-date=2020-07-18|website=www.redbookkz.info}}</ref> All other native fish, barring the stickleback (which persisted during the lake's shrinkage and salinity increase), were also extirpated, but many have returned to the [[North Aral Sea]] following its recovery from the 1990s onwards.<ref name=":1" />