Paddlefish PADDLEFISH
 
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Polyodon spathula
CHARACTERISTICS: This fish’s long, paddle-shaped snout accounts for about one-third of its total body length. The snout helps to stabilize the fish as it swims, and it also contains specialized cells that assist in detecting the plankton swarms upon which this species feeds. The skin is smooth. Small individuals are pink on the back and white on the venter; for larger individuals around 10 to 12 inches, the body color changes to bluish gray on the back and cream on the venter. The eyes are tiny compared to the rest of the head and body. On the underside of the snout are two minute barbels in front of a large, toothless mouth. When viewed through the mouth, the gills are large and show the many closely spaced filaments that trap microscopic food. On each side, a gill cover extends posteriorly, ending in a long, pointed flap. The skeleton is composed of cartilage rather than bone. The end of the verterbral column extends into the upper lobe of the heterorcercal tail, much as a shark’s does.
ADULT SIZE: 3.9 to 5.9 ft (1.2 to 1.8 m). The state angling record (52 lb, 12 oz) was caught below Wilson Dam on the Tennessee River in 1982. Currently, paddlefish caught in Alabama must be immediately released unharmed.
DISTRIBUTION: Paddlefish occur primarily below the Fall Line in the Mobile basin. They are absent in our coastal rivers. Due to overfishing, this species has all but disappeared from the Tennessee River. On 9 September 1994, we received a photograph of a 19-inch-long paddlefish that was caught and released below Wilson dam near Florence, Alabama.
HABITAT AND BIOLOGY: Paddlefish are generally found in open water, but we have collected individuals as long as 3 to 4 feet in relatively small streams, such as Isaac Creek (Monroe County), Chickasaw Creek (Mobile County), and Three Rivers Creek (Washington County). A migratory species, paddlefish congregate below dams to spawn during March and April. Spawning between one female and several males is believed to occur in open water. Floating downstream with the current, eggs drift to the bottom and stay there until hatching. Newly hatched individuals grow rapidly, reaching 12 to 14 inches by the end of their first year. Paddlefish are long-lived. Examinations of growth rings on the dentary bones indicate life spans of 20 to 30 years.
ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: Walbaum described the paddlefish in 1792.
ETYMOLOGY:
Polyodon means many teeth, referring to the numerous gill rakers.
Spathula means spatula, referring to the paddle-shaped snout.
The copyrighted information above is from Fishes of Alabama and the Mobile Basin.
ADDITIONAL COMMON NAMES: In the southeast, anglers also call paddlefish: spoonbill, spoonbill cat, spadefish, shovelfish, shovelbilled cat, and duck-billed cat according to Cloutman and Olmstead in Fisheries (Vol. 8, No. 2). Some would also spell it paddle fish.
Additional Information:
Note: In Alabama, it is illegal to stock or move any fish, mussel, snail or crayfish to any public water without a permit.
The US Geological Survey has an interesting page on paddlefish, including frequently answered questions.
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Because of concern about low number of paddlefish, Alabama currently does not allow anglers or commercial fishermen to harvest paddlefish. Paddlefish may be increasing in numbers, so Alabama fisheries biologists plan to study population trends for this unique and primitive fish. Although more anglers are reporting accidentally catching paddlefish in the Alabama River, fewer anglers are reporting paddlefish catches in the Tennessee River of north Alabama.
Recreational anglers most often catch paddlefish by snagging rather than by bait or lures.
The eggs of paddlefish make excellent caviar, however, a moratorium on harvest and possession of paddlefish was implemented in Alabama in November 1988 because of too much harvest by commercial fishermen.
Paddlefish are an important component of many commercial fisheries in states that allow harvest of this species.
Paddlefish need gravel and consistent water flow to successfully spawn.
Paddlefish have been recorded moving over 100-miles in the Alabama River System and have moved upstream over Claiborne Lock and Dam during high water events.
Bighead carp, a non-native species, are present in Alabama and can compete for food with juvenile paddlefish.
Paddlefish are easily recognized by their long, paddle-shaped snout and their lack of plates or scales.
Paddlefish are often called spoon-billed catfish by anglers because their skin resembles that of a catfish.
Paddlefish eat microscopic plants and animals (plankton).
The nearest relative of the paddlefish lives in China.
The skeleton of a paddlefish is cartilage rather than bone. |
