158 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



Family POLYODONTIDiE. 



Body fusiform, little compressed. Mouth large; its margin foriued 

 by the maxillary, overhung by an enormous snout. Teeth small ; on 

 jaws and palatines; often wanting. Skin almost entirely naked. No 

 barbels. Gill-rakers on all the gill-arches. Dorsal and anal far back. 

 Caudal with many closely bound spines (fulcra) along its upper border. 



This family contains two living genera, our Polyodon and the Chinese 

 Psejjhurus. 



Genus POLYODON Lacepede. 



Snout broad and thin, resembling the blade of an oar. Mouth and 

 gill-openings very large. Gill-rakers long and slender. Gill-membranes 

 connected across the isthmus, free from the latter. Operculum large, 

 produced into a long, skinny Jflap. Spiracles present. 



Polyodon spathula (Walb.). 

 Paddle-fish; S^^oon-bill Cat; Duck-hill Cat. 



Jordan and Gilbert, 1882, 8, 83 ; Jordan, 12, 660, pi. 242. 



Snout long, thin and flexible ; one-fourth to two-fifths the total length ; 

 strengthened by numerous stellate, anastomosing ossifications. The dis- 

 tance from the tip of the snout to the last gill is more than one-half the 

 total length. Mouth more than one-half the length of the head. Max- 

 illaries mee'tiug in the middle line in front, forming the whole margin of 

 the upper jaw. Minute teeth on the jaws, the short palatines and the 

 vomer of the young, but these are wanting in the adults. Eyes small ; 

 placed near the base of the snout. Spiracles opening at the base of the 

 suspensorium, not far behind the eyes. Gill-flap long, reaching nearly 

 to the insertion of the ventral fins. Two rows of long, slender gill- 

 rakers on each gill-arch ; the rows of each arch separated by a broad 

 membrane. Pectorals and ventrals of moderate size. Anal placed be- 

 hind the dorsal. Caudal large, forked, the two lobes nearly equally 

 developed. The prolongation of the spinal column into the upper lobe 

 is covered with narrow, bony plates. Color olivaceous or bluish ; paler 

 below. Attains a length of 5 to 6 feet, and a weight of 30 pounds or 

 more. 



Mississippi and Missouri valleys, and rivers of the South. 



In Indiana this fish will doubtless be found all along the Ohio River. 

 I have taken it at Madison, where it seems to be abundant. It has been 

 taken at Cincinnati, Ohio. New Harmony (4, '88, 162), Prof. Ever- 

 mann has taken it at Brookville, in the Whitewater (5, No. 2, 3), and 

 at Delphi, in the Wabash. Vigo County {16, '93). Prof. Jordan 

 records the finding of five specimens in the White River at Indianapolis 



