(Clupeiformes, Engraulidae) is a highly commercial migratoryfish species in the Yangtze River. Because of adverse human activities such as overfishing, productionhas sharply declined. Investigating the large-scale distribution of this fish is very important for evaluationof its resources and habitat. Previous evidence revealed the existence of anadromous in Poyang Lake; thisstudy was conducted to confirm whether there is also anadromous in the Xinjiang River. An electronprobe microanalyzer was applied to analyze Sr and Ca microchemistry patterns in otoliths of collectedfrom the Ruihong section of the Xinjiang River (the most distant branch of Poyang Lake, ~1000 km from theYangtze River estuary) near Yugan County in Jiangxi Province. Line transect results clearly showed a complexSr/Ca ratio (i.e., Sr/Ca) pattern, including low-ratio freshwater habitat (Sr/Ca×in the XinjiangRiver. Home spawning is thought to be the main reason for such a long migratory for the anchovy in the XinjiangRiver, resulting from natural selection for relatively stable spawning conditions. A 1000-km migratory distancereflects an extremely strong migration ability of , which is a relatively small fish. The anchovies enter intothe Xinjiang River to visit habitat required for spawning and early life stages, and there are likely spawninggrounds of anadromous