Taxonomy & naming
Richardson described the species in 1845 from Canton (Guangzhou), China. Elopichthys now sits in the family Xenocyprididae and is a single-species genus in most treatments. FishBase uses the name yellowcheek.
Morphology
A long, torpedo-shaped, pike-like carp with a large mouth and a jaw that reaches back under the eye. FishBase gives a maximum of 78.5 in TL, which makes it one of the largest cyprinids of its range.
Habitat
FishBase calls it a freshwater, benthopelagic, potamodromous fish of temperate water, ranging across eastern Asia from the Amur basin to the Red (Coi) River. It lives in the main channels and floodplain lakes of large rivers.
Feeding
It is a fast-swimming ambush and chase predator on other fish. Juveniles take small fish and invertebrates.
Mating
Mating behaviour has not been described in the sources the atlas uses.
Breeding
The fish migrates within rivers to breed, and the eggs drift in the current, as with the other large Chinese river carps. Captive spawning is a fisheries practice, not an aquarium one.
In the aquarium
Small juveniles appear in the trade, but a fish that reaches this size cannot be kept in any home aquarium. It needs a large pond or public aquarium, cool water and live fish as food. FishBase notes it is also a food fish.
Conservation
IUCN lists the species as Least Concern, assessed in 2020. Dams and over-fishing are pressures on large migratory river fish in China, though the species remains widespread.