FISHES OF NEW YORK 61 



oped lower caudal lobe so that tlie fin is nearly equally forked; 

 sides of the bent portion of the tail armed with small rhombic 

 plates; upper caudal fulcrums narrow, numerous; pectorals mod- 

 erate, placed low; ventrals abdominal, many-rayed. 

 Rivers of the middle United States. 



34 Polyodon spathula (Walbaum) 

 Paddlefish; Spoonbill Cat 



Sqiialus' spathula Walbaum, Artedi, Gen. Pise. 522, 1792. 



Polyodon feuille Lacepede, Hist. Nat. Poiss. I, 403, 1800. 



Polyodon folium Bloch «& Schneider, Syst. Iclath. 457, 1801 (after Lac6- 



pede); Mitchill, Am. Jour. Sci. Arts, XII, 201. 1827; Kirtland, 



Bost. Jour. Nat. Hist. IV, 21, pi. 2, fig. 1, 1844; Gunther, Cat. Fish. 



Brit. Mus. VIII, 346, 1870. 

 Polyodon spathula Jordan & Gilbert, Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. Mus. 83, 1883; 



Jordan & Evermann, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus. 101, 1896. 



The body of the paddlefish is fusiform with the snout much 

 produced, spatulalike. Body scaleless, covered with smooth 

 skin; mouth broad, terminal, somewhat resembling that of the 

 shark; teeth in jaws very numerous and fine, deciduous; spiracles 

 with a minute barbel. The operculum is rudimentary, its flap 

 of skin long, reaching almost or quite to the ventral fins; pseu- 

 dobranchiae absent; gill arches five, the last rudimentary; gill 

 rakers long and in a double series on each arch; gill membranes 

 connected, free from the isthmus; nostrils double, situated at 

 base of blade; a continuous lateral line from ujjper part of head 

 along dorsal outline to tail; eye small, directed downward and 

 to the side; dorsal and anal fins far back, composed of soft rays, 

 nearly opposite; tail heterocercal, well forked; sides of the 

 bent portion of the tail armed with rhombic plates. The 

 pectoral fins are of moderate size and placed low; ventrals 

 many-rayed, abdominal. The distance from eye to end of snout 

 is about one third of the total length, including caudal. The 

 depth of the body is contained four and one half times in the 

 distance from eye to base of caudal. The hight of the dorsal 

 fin about equals the depth of the body. 



This is known as the paddlefish, spoonbill or spoon-billed 

 sturgeon, shovel fish, billfish, and duck-billed eat. Called '' sal- 



