United States (contiguous states) country information

Common names: Mississippi paddlefish, Paddlefish
Occurrence: native
Salinity: freshwater
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: commercial | Ref: Missouri Department of Conservation, 2008
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: gamefish: yes;
Comments: Known from Mississippi River basin from southwestern New York to Montana and south to Louisiana; Gulf Slope drainagaes from Mobile Bay in Alabama, to Galveston Bay in Texas. Formerly in Great Lakes basin, probably extirpated (Ref. 86798). Also 276, 5723, 10294. Status of threat: vulnerable; status same as 1989. Criteria: 1,2 (http://fisc.er.usgs.gov/afs/) (Ref. 81264).
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr, 2011
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Spatule d'Amérique, Espátula, 匙吻鲟, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Chondrostei (sturgeons) > Acipenseriformes (Sturgeons and paddlefishes) > Polyodontidae (Paddlefishes)
Etymology: Polyodon: Greek, polys = a lot of + Greek, odous = teeth (Ref. 45335); spathula: Polyodon, many toothed, perhaps due to the numerous gill rakers because adult paddlefish lack teeth, although young fish has many small teeth, and spathula meaning spatula, due to its elongated snout (Ref. 79012).
More on author: Walbaum.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; demersal; potamodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 2 - ? m. Subtropical; 10°C - 18°C (Ref. 2060); 49°N - 29°N, 112°W - 77°W (Ref. 86798)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

North America: Mississippi River basin from southwestern New York to Montana and south to Louisiana; Gulf Slope drainagaes from Mobile Bay in Alabama, to Galveston Bay in Texas, USA. Formerly in Great Lakes basin, probably extirpated. At least one country reports adverse ecological impact after introduction.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 221 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 86798); common length : 120 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12193); max. published weight: 90.7 kg (Ref. 3221); max. reported age: 55 years (Ref. 46974)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Snout long, canoe-paddle-shaped; gill cover with large, fleshy, pointed flap (Ref. 86798).

Usually inhabits water deeper than 1.2 m in slow-flowing large rivers, lakes, and impoundments (Ref. 86798). Feeds on plankton. The extended upper jaw (= paddle) may help to channel plankton into the mouth. Threatened due to over harvesting, habitat loss and pollution (Ref. 58490).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr, 2011. A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 663p. (Ref. 86798)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

Vulnerable (VU) (A2cd); Date assessed: 14 September 2019

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Appendix II: International trade monitored

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: public aquariums

FAO(Fisheries: production, species profile; publication : search) | FishSource |

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Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 1.2500 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00646 (0.00430 - 0.00969), b=3.09 (2.98 - 3.20), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.4 ±0.45 se; based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tm=6-9; tmax=30).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Very high vulnerability (90 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.

Polyodon spathula (Walbaum, 1792)