Spoonbill / PaddlefishDescription The color of the paddlefish is slate-gray to gray-blue above, fading to somewhat lighter beneath. They can be easily distinguished from all other fishes by the immensely elongated snout, extremely long gill covers and shark-like mouth. The skeleton is largely cartilaginous. Jaws and palate of young specimens are covered with numerous fine teeth, but the jaws become large, feeble and toothless as the fish reaches maturity. The body is naked, or scale less. Paddlefish are in many respects one of the most primitive of fishes but are highly specialized in others. It is a remnant of ancient life, differing from other fishes by its elongated paddle like snout, long gill covers and shark-like body form. Where They Live Paddlefish thrive in deep, slow, meandering backwaters where the zooplankton is rich and where the lack of current enables them to feed efficiently-the type of habitat the Corps and other public agencies found most untidy. For example, islands create the kinds of pools in which paddlefish prosper. What They Eat Paddlefish feed primarily on zooplankton and insect larvae. Underneath the frontal paddle there is an impressive mouth which when opened encompasses an area equivalent to that of a gallon bucket. Generally it is open, since the paddlefish feeds by cruising along, sucking in water containing microscopic animals: daphnia, diatoms, rotifers, and others collectively known as zooplankton. The water, silt, vegetable matter, and other debris (occasionally including a minnow or fishhook) are filtered through an intricate, sieve-like arrangement of gill rakers which serves the paddlefish as baleen does the great whales. The zooplankton is retained and ingested. When They Spawn Paddlefish spawn in April and May when water temperature is around 55-60 degrees F. The spawning run up the larger streams is closely associated with periods of high flow. Spawning activity takes place over flooded gravel bars. It is assumed that the female starts spawning in the deeper water and completes a spawning "rush" at the surface of the water at which time rapid agitation of the caudal fin can be seen above the surface of the water. The female is accompanied by one or more males on this rush..
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