Two subspecies are recognised and are considered junior synonyms: Plecoglossus altivelis chinensis Wu & Shan, 2005 (Shandong Province, China) and Plecoglossus altivelis ryukyuensis Nishida, 1988 (Ryukyu Islands, Japan).

The species is assessed as Data Deficient, due to the lack of information regarding the wild population trends, threats and harvest trends.

The species has a northwest Pacific distribution, with records from along the coast of western Hokkaido in Japan southward to the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan and China (Kim 1997), and northern Viet Nam. A subspecies Plecoglossus altivelis ryukyuensis occurs in Nansei-shoto, Japan (Nishida 1988).

In China, the species is known from coastal areas, in the Donghai Sea and the Nanhai Sea, as well as in inland mountain streams of Chekiang in April or May and goes back to the sea in August or September. Introduced from its native range to other parts of China for aquaculture.

There are no detailed reports on wild population trends however fishery catch data suggest that wild populations have declined (FAO 2012). Widely cultivated in China and Japan, and perhaps in other parts of its range.

Fishery catches reached a peak of 18,101 tonnes in 1991, then declining rapidly to 3,406 tonnes by 2010 (FAO 2012).

Typical amphidromous fish; appears near shore from late autumn to spring (Yamada et al. 1995 ). Found in lakes and rivers, preferring clean river water and can be found throughout rivers (Chyung 1975). Ascends rivers and adults spawn in the spring in the lower reaches of rivers. After spawning, some adults die while others return to the sea. Newly hatched larvae drift downstream to over-winter in coastal waters, and then they migrate upstream as juveniles (Tsukamoto et al. 1987).

Fish (about 6-9 cm) start schooling at the river mouth and are insectivores and eat algae off small pebbles (Chyung 1975); this is assisted by small leaf-like teeth which are loosely attached to the jaw with two ligaments (Adamicka 1984). Those that are ready to spawn (about 20 cm TL) move downstream to the lower reaches of the river. Spawning adults from the sea migrate upstream to the lower reaches as well. Some fish spawn two or three years in succession, others only once (Masuda et al. 1984, Frimodt 1995).

Besides the typical amphidromous populations, landlocked population are also know from Lake Biwa (Azuma 1973) and several other lakes in Japan.

River forms live usually only one year whereas lake forms can live two or three years (Chyung 1975). Reaches maturity at 30-40 cm (Chyung 1975).

Introduced from its native range to other regions in the country where it is stocked in reservoirs.

Major threats to the the species are overfishing, river modifications such as dam construction, and soil erosion through large scale felling of the forests in the river sources (Wang 1998).

Highly valued food fish. Marketed fresh and consumed fresh, fried and broiled (Frimodt 1995).

In Japan, juveniles have been extensively stocked in many rivers for several decades. In the Nagara River, most stocked fish are juveniles from the landlocked population in Lake Biwa (70 %), and the rest comprise juveniles of the amphidromous wild population (10%) and hatchery-reared fish (20%) (Otake and Uchida 1998). In China, breeding experiments started at the end of the 20^th century (Wang 1998).