THE PADDLE-FISH 



(Polyodon spathula). 



(COMMONLY CALLED "SPOONBILL CAT.") 



By M. L. Alexander, 

 Pres. State Conservation Commission, New Orleans, La. 



This is one of the most singular and interesting fish 

 occurring in American waters. Its range is said to be 

 along the Mississippi Valley from Texas and Louisiana 

 on the south to Minnesota and Wisconsin on the north. 

 It is not uncommon in the Ohio and its larger tributaries 

 and in the Missouri basin it is found as far west at least 

 as western South Dakota. Its home is mostly in the 

 bayous and lowland streams. 



In Louisiana these fish have been rather plentiful in 

 the past, but in recent years, through lack of protective 

 measures, are fast disappearing. They are found in the 

 fresh water lakes of the State and on its rivers and 

 bayous. They sometimes reach an immense size. One of 

 these fishes, a female, was recently taken from a small 

 lake near Angola, Louisiana, which weighed, when 

 dressed, 102 pounds, and contained 10 pounds of eggs 

 These eggs were sold at $2.00 per pound for manufac- 

 turing into caviar, bringing a total of $20. The flesh was 

 disposed of at 10 cents a pound, or for $10.20, bringing, 

 therefore, to the fisherman a gross amount of $30.20. 



Another fish of this species was taken from Lake Larto 

 in the northern part of the State, weighing approxima- 

 tely 140 pounds and bringing something over $40. 



The spoonbill roe is converted into caviar by the same 

 methods used with sturgeon eggs; that is the fish is 

 opened, the eggs taken out and rubbed through wire 

 screens having a mesh slightly over an eighth of an inch, 

 thereby separating the eggs and removing them from the 

 egg sacs and other foreign substances. Sufficient salt is 

 then added and mixed thoroughly through the eggs, after 

 which they are placed on fine screens to drain. Then they 



