Deng Zongjue, professor of biology at Nanchang University： Forging an indissoluble bond with the Chinese sturgeon
A giant Chinese sturgeon specimen is now on display at the Biological Museum of Nanchang University. Courtesy of Nanchang University Archives
1986年，邓宗觉教授（右一）陪同外国学者考察鄱阳湖鸟类。 南昌大学档案馆供图
Archive story 70 years of glorious history 70 years of unforgettable memories
One morning in 1952, Deng Zongjue, who was shopping at the Zhongshan Road vegetable market in Nanchang, saw a fishmonger selling a huge fish. Since it was nearly two meters long and no one wanted it for a while, the fishmonger decided to divide the fish into several pieces and sell it. Due to professional sensitivity, Deng Zongjue quickly stopped it, paid a "huge amount" of 100 yuan to buy the fish back, and made it into a specimen in the laboratory. This is the "treasure of the town hall" now on display in the Biological Museum of Nanchang University – the giant Chinese sturgeon specimen.
The Chinese sturgeon and dinosaurs lived in the same period and were called "living fossils" in water. It was an important reference for studying the evolution of fish. It had important scientific value and incalculable ecological, social and economic value in the study of biological evolution traces, geology, landforms and other aspects of earth changes. However, due to human factors such as hydropower projects, water pollution, mechanical trauma, and overfishing, the wild Chinese sturgeon was in danger of extinction.
Deng Zongjue, a professor of biology at Nanchang University, has been teaching at the school since 1949. The specimen he found of the Chinese sturgeon is of great significance. It reflects the survival status of the Chinese sturgeon in the wild at that time, the population status and the ecological environment of the Yangtze River, which is conducive to human scientific research, experimental teaching and species protection.
这尾中华鲟标本的出现，无疑给当时生物系的教学带来了“惊鸿一瞥”，为人类对中华鲟的科学研究奉献了一组组生动具体的数据，更为之后制作各类动植物标本提供了实践经验。当年生物系师资力量虽然严重不足，但邓宗觉克服重重困难，一边制定教案、寻找标本，一边努力培养生物科学的好苗子，南昌大学生物系也随之不断发展壮大。
在邓宗觉的坚持和带领下，他和他的学生们将鄱阳湖里的其他鱼类标本基本收集齐全了，为出版《江西鄱阳湖鱼类志》奠定了坚实基础。
邓宗觉一直奋斗在南昌大学生物系教学第一线，教龄62年。在科研上，他也硕果累累，在国内首次选育成功了淡水鱼类新品种，建立了原种场，提供杂交用原种，获江西省科技成果二等奖，1981年获国家水产总局技术改进一等奖。他还参加鄱阳湖综合考察的治理研究，获1990年度国家科技进步一等奖；参加完成国家“七五”攻关项目《兴国红鲤人工生态库的设计与建设》；主持完成国家科委的120万亩池塘养殖高产模式化推广研究，获1991年江西省教委颁发的科技兴农先进个人奖。
积沙成塔，集腋成裘，2006年对外开放的南昌大学生物博物馆，有相当数量的国家一级、二级保护动植物以及珍稀物种标本，如国家一级保护动物灵猫、中华鲟、华南虎、白鳍豚、金丝猴等，这些标本尤为珍贵。诸多馆藏动物标本都是由邓宗觉和他的学生们在野外采集并亲手制作而成。在这里，中华鲟标本和其他珍贵标本，不仅给人们提供了科学研究价值，更似乎在提醒人们这些是濒临灭绝的或已经灭绝的生物，激发了人们尊重自然、热爱生命、保护环境的责任感和使命感。（钟昕）