Taxonomy & naming
Bleeker described the species in 1871 from the Chang Jiang (Yangtze), China; the authority is in parentheses because the species was first described in another genus. Acheilognathus belongs to Acheilognathidae, the bitterlings, which spawn in living mussels.
Morphology
A deep-bodied, laterally compressed bitterling, large for the group at 11 in SL according to FishBase. The species name means large-finned. Colour and fin detail are not described in the sources the atlas uses.
Habitat
FishBase lists it as freshwater, brackish and benthopelagic in subtropical water of 59–77 °F. It occurs in China and northern Viet Nam and is reported from the Amur River drainage in Russia.
Feeding
The diet is not described in the sources the atlas uses.
Mating
Mating behaviour is not described in the sources the atlas uses.
Breeding
As in other bitterlings, the female has an ovipositor used to deposit eggs inside bivalves, and the young stay in the bivalve until they can swim, according to FishBase. Spawning therefore depends on live freshwater mussels.
In the aquarium
FishBase gives no care notes. A bitterling this size needs a large cool-water tank or pond and, for breeding, healthy mussels, which are demanding to keep.
Conservation
FishBase lists the species as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List, assessed 3 August 2010.