paddlefish

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Paddlefishes Fossil range: Late Cretaceous–Recent PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N [1]
American Paddlefish, Polyodon spathula
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Acipenseriformes
Family:	Polyodontidae
Species
Genus Polyodon   Polyodon spathula Genus Psephurus   Psephurus gladius

Paddlefish (family Polyodontidae) are primitive Chondrostean ray-finned fishes. The paddlefish can be distinguished by its large mouth and its elongated snout called a rostrum (bill). These spatula-like snouts comprise half the length of their entire body. There are only two extant species of these fish: the Chinese and the American paddlefish. The American species is Missouri's State Aquatic Animal.

These fish are not closely related to sharks, but they do have some body parts that resemble those of sharks such as their skeletons, primarily composed of cartilage, and deeply forked heterocercal tail fins.

In some areas, paddlefish are referred to as "Spoonbill", "Spoonies" or "Spoonbill Catfish".

Species

The Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gladius) lives in the Yangtze River. Nine-feet (three-meters) specimens weighing 300 kilograms (660 lb) have been recorded; reports of 7 metres (23 ft) fish exist^{[citation needed]}, although the existence of such large specimens is doubtful. They are said to now be extinct, with a recently completed three-year survey of the Yangtze finding no specimens.^[2]

American Paddlefish, Polyodon spathula

The American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) lives in the slow-flowing waters of the Mississippi River, Missouri River, Des Moines River, Yellowstone River, Ohio River, and Oklahoma River systems (and was historically found in the Great Lakes). In May 2000, the Canadian Species at Risk Act listed the Paddlefish as being extirpated in Canada. The American paddlefish is one of the largest freshwater fish in North America. They commonly reach 5 feet (1.5 m) or more in length and can weigh more than 60 pounds (27 kg). The largest American paddlefish on record was caught in Kansas and weighed 144 pounds (65 kg), by Clinton Boldridge out of Atchison Watershed. The largest unofficial record was 206 pounds from Lake Cumberland in Kentucky.^{[citation needed]} Postcards from the 1960s show a photo of this huge fish. This type of fish's age is hard to determine but many scientists^[who?] think that they live 50 years or more.

Fossils of other paddlefish have been found. One such species is Crossopholis magnicaudatus. C. magnicaudatus has been found in the Green River Shale deposit of Wyoming and dates to the Eocene.

Physical characteristics

Protopsephurus liui fossils

Early investigators^[who?] once thought that paddlefishes used their snouts to dig vegetation from the bottom of lakes and rivers. In fact, they feed by filtering out zooplankton from the water, using filaments on their gill arches called "gill rakers".

The rostrum contains receptors in its rostrum that can detect weak electrical fields, suggesting that they use their rostrum as an antenna to detect zooplankton.^[3] Even though the rostrum seems to help the fish feed, it has been observed^{[by whom?]} that fish with severely damaged or missing rostrums are able to feed and are just as healthy as other fish with them intact.

The rostrum also helps the fish to feed by acting as a stabilizer. As the fish moves through the water with its mouth open, the rostrum creates lift, much like a wing of an airplane. This helps the fish by keeping its head in a steady position and helps it keep from diving to the bottom.

Paddlefish lay their eggs in midstream over bare rocks or gravel. The eggs are adhesive and stick to the rocky substrate. The young are swept downstream after hatching and grow to adulthood in deep freshwater pools.^[3]

Status

Paddlefish were at one time very abundant in most central U.S. river systems, but populations have declined greatly due to over harvesting, sedimentation, and river modification. One of the major reasons for declining paddlefish numbers are the dams constructed up and down major U.S. river systems. The dams block paddlefish migration routes that are very important to the fish for spawning. One other reason for the decreased numbers is over fishing. Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commissioners are reintroducing the species to historical habitats in the Ohio and Allegheny rivers in an effort to establish a secure breeding population once again. Reintroduction efforts may take many years as paddlefish mature slowly which lengthens the time required to establish a breeding population.

Oklahoma has drastically reduced sportfish harvest to 1 per person/day to help sustain populations.

Caviar harvest

During the last century, paddlefish and sturgeon have stimulated the world stock trades with their eggs (roe), called caviar. Paddlefish and sturgeon are two of the most important fish for freshwater caviar. Paddlefish take many years before they are able to spawn. A female may take 9 to 10 years, when they are about 42 inches long, and males 7 years old and 40 inches long are able to spawn. The female releases adhesive eggs randomly over the water bottom and abandons them. They are capable of producing over one-half million eggs a year, but they may not spawn every year.

Oklahoma Fish & Game department set up Paddlefish Survey stations around the state in highly fished areas. The Fish & Game biologists record length and weight measurements and cut a portion of the lower jaw to determine age. To encourage participation in past surveys the Fish & Game department has offered fish cleaning and preparation services, returning the cleaned fish in heat sealed packaging, and has offered key tag souvenirs. The Fish & Game department keeps the eggs (Roe) for licensed resale and the proceeds keep the study funded without expense to the public.

Current threats

Paddlefish are targeted by poachers for their valuable eggs, and are protected by law over a large part of their range. Habitat destruction is also causing their numbers to decrease more rapidly. Paddlefish need free flowing rivers that have shallow pools with sandy, rocky bottoms for their spawning. Water temperature is also important for spawning. Modification of rivers by the construction of dams, dredging, and water removal for farming reduces paddlefish spawning grounds.

Free-flowing lakes with reservoirs can also provide paddlefish breeding habitat. One such area is the Missouri River-Lake Sakakawea system in North Dakota. This area is capable of producing good paddlefish numbers because it is a free flowing system with many good areas for paddlefish to spawn. Fishing for paddlefish in violation of local fishing regulations is a felony in some states.

Fishing for paddlefish

In some states, paddlefish are abundant enough to allow for sport fishing^{[citation needed]}. Taking paddlefish is done with a bow and arrow, a spear, or by snagging—because paddlefish are filter feeders, they cannot be caught with conventional lures. For snagging, anglers typically use a large treble hook 2/0 to 4/0 in size which is weighted heavily to pull the hook to the bottom. Heavy duty rods, 7' to 15' in length with a heavy duty reel and line, complete the rig which the angler moves in a sweeping motion to hook the fish in the fins or tail.^{[citation needed]}

Common fishing method in Oklahoma is a Heavy action rod 5'-6' in length with 100 lb+ Braided line, 10/0 or 12/0 treble hook and 8-12oz sinker and a Penn 309 size/type reel capable of holding approximately 150yds of line. Specialty rods are sold at BassPro shops called "Snaggin Special". Using a boat in slow idle, the rod is pulled rapidly in a low sweeping motion, pausing for the weight to settle on bottom and repeat. Hooking into a Paddlefish will feel as if you snagged on the bottom. In warmer water, the fish will put up a short lived hard charging fight occasionally jumping clear of the surface depending on the location the fish was hooked and then it will resemble dragging up "dead weight" as the fish rolls and wraps line around itself. 40-50 lb females are common in the Spring, Neosho and Grand Lake of the Cherokees areas.^{[citation needed]}

Cleaning

If you chose to clean your Paddlefish for tablefare, it is much more difficult than traditional methods^{[citation needed]}. Hang the fish by the lip/gills, make a perpendicular cut through the cartilage spinal cord at the base of the skull. Cut around the base of the tail, barely cutting into the cartilage spinal column. Twist the tail and pull the spinal cord out. Slice off the fins and remove the intestines. insert a high pressure water source into the hole at the base of the spine, this will flush any blood out of the veins. Slice 1-2 hand sized holes in the flaps that cover the stomach area. Cut the head loose from the body. Now you have a portion of fish commonly called socked.^{[citation needed]}

Lay the fish out on a cleaning table and split lengthwise in 2 halves. Using a long bladed narrow and very sharp filet knife, carefully filet away the meat from the skin while making sure you discard the layer of reddish meat inside the skin. Next, trim away any cartilage. the remaining filet can be cut in frying sized chunks.

Due to the body structure of Paddlefish, there is a very large waste coefficient. Only approx 25% of the "live weight" of the fish makes it to finished product for eating.

Cooking

Caution is recommended for fishing in recently flooded/muddy waters. Due to their feeding nature, fish caught in muddy water will have a muddy non-edible flavor to the meat. Paddlefish caught from clean waters will have a stringy white meat texture when fried that closely resembles chicken. The meat is also dense (Like Tuna) and it only takes a small portion for a full meal.

Coating the fish in batter and frying it, or grilling the fish with butter and seasoning are common preparations that often produce good results.^{[citation needed]}

References

http://grandfishingreport.com/pgs/lakeinfo/species/spoonbill/spoonbill.htm

External links

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2007)

• The Chinese Paddlefish Website - containing many photographs of Psepherus.
• ARKive - images and movies of the paddlefish (Polyodon spathula)
• FishBase entry for Polyodontidae
• USGS UMESC Paddlefish Study
• http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Fish_Boat/pafish/fishhtms/chap6.htm
• http://www.fisheries.org/AFSmontana/SSCpages/Paddlefish.htm
• http://www.earthwave.org/paddlefish.htm
• http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/wildlife/Fishing/aquanotes-fishid/padlfish.htm
• Stochastic synchronization of electroreceptors in the paddlefish
• http://www.outdoorlife.com/outdoor/lc/peck.html