Distribution and Biology of Economically Important Fishes *

According to the characteristics of geographical groupings of fishes in different parts of the country, the distribution of freshwater fishes in China can be divided into five major zones, namely, the Amur River Zone, the Yangtze-Yellow River Plain Zone, the South China Zone, the Northwest Zone, and the Tsangpu-Lu River Zone. This division depends upon the Nanking Mountains as the principal dividing line. North of the mountain chain the land is considered to be part of the Ancient North Belt; this Belt is subdivided into the Siberia Belt which includes the Yangtze-Yellow River Plain Zone. South of the mountain chain is the East Oceanic Belt, the Chinese part of which is the Sino-Indian Belt, which contains the South China Zone. The Northwest Zone and Tsangpu-Lu River Zone are located in the vast lands of western China. ^{1 , 2}