284 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
NOTES ON OTHER FOOD-FISHES OBSERVED AT THE FALLS OF 
THE OHIO. 
During the visit to Louisville for the purpose of studying the Ohio 
shad several other food-fishes were observed and many important notes 
were made upon them, the more valuable and interesting of which are 
here recorded. 
In the fishery at Louisville the species caught are classed as ** good 
fish,” ‘*small fish,” and ‘‘shovelnose sturgeon.” Spoonbill cat and 
fresh-water drum are classed as ‘‘ good fish,” and all other species as 
‘small fish,” except the shovelnose sturgeon, which is classed by itself. 
6 
Poliyodon spathula (Walbaum). ‘‘ Spoonbill Cat’’; Paddle-fish. 
This is one of the most interesting fishes of the Ohio basin. It is said to occur in 
the Kanawha at least as far up as Montgomery. At Louisville it is the most valued 
of all the fishes found there. It is only within the last few years that the spoonbill 
cat has possessed much commercial value, but now it is more sought after than any 
other species in the Mississippi basin. Although its principal value is on account of 
its roe, from which caviar is made, the flesh has now come into considerable favor 
and finds a ready sale. 
The paddle-fish is found in the Ohio, at Louisville, in the spring in large numbers. 
The fishing season is chiefly during the month of May, at which time the fish are 
running upstream. The principal fishery is just below the Falls, where the fish are 
taken in the same seines which are used in the shad and shovelnose sturgeon fisheries. 
During my stay at Louisville (May 16 to 19) I saw a good many of these fish 
caught and examined many examples in Mr. Sowders’s market. When the spoon- 
bills are caught the fisherman cuts off the heads (including the collar bones), the tail, 
and all the fins, and then receives 4 cents a pound for what is left. The majority of 
those seen were small, probably running from one-half to 15 pounds dressed. Some 
were not over a foot in length. Nearly all the large ones were females full of nearly 
ripe roe. The eggs did not run from any that I saw, but the fishermen say they had 
a few recently which were entirely ripe. 
Just where these fish spawn no one knows certainly. Mr. Sowders and the fish- 
ermen think they go to the bayous and quiet places in the river above Louisville. 
Judging from the roe I saw in May, I would say that many of the fish examined ~ 
would have spawned early in June—perhaps between June 5 and 20—and it would 
seem that it should not be difficult to discover their spawning-beds. 
There is, however, no other fresh-water fish in our waters about whose spawning 
time, place, and habits, and whose development so little is really known, although 
their eggs and young have been long desired by all zoologists interested in the origin 
and development of fishes. No one seems ever to have seen this fish spawning, 
and the young under 8 or 10 inches in length are absolutely unknown. Anyone 
obtaining specimens under 8 inches in length would confer a great favor upon 
science by forwarding them, preserved in formalin, to the U.S. Fish Commission 
at Washington. 
The utilization of the roe of the spoonbill cat began only a few years ago, and it 
is now by far the most valuable part of the fish. The eggs are a greenish-black in 
color, about three times the size of shad eggs, and are very numerous. In conyert- 
ing them into caviar they are run through a wire screen to separate them from all 
the fat and connective tissue; then they are salted by mixing with them the proper 
amount of Liineburg salt. This is the most delicate part of the whole process and 
the best results can be obtained only by practice. After adding the salt the eggs at 
