Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 311 



The rostrum or bill is not, as is frequently stated, used in stirring 

 up the mud, but probably serves purely as a sense organ. 



Very little is known of the spawning time or place of this fish. 

 The little that is known indicates that in the lower Mississippi 

 Valley the spawning season is during February, March and April, 

 while in the Ohio and northward it is during the latter part of May 

 and June. Among a large number of fish examined by the senior 

 author at Louisville, Kentucky, during the third week in May, only 

 a few were fully ripe. At that time the fish were running up 

 stream, swimming near the surface, and evidently seeking their 

 spawning grounds, which are thought to be in the ponds and 

 bayous along the river. At this time they are caught in seines 

 lightly leaded so as to fish the surface. At other seasons the Pad- 

 dlefish may be caught on set-lines. 



The greatest enemy of the Spoonbill is the silvery lamprey, 

 Ichthyomyzon concolor. Dr. Wagner reports as many as 20 of 

 these lampreys having been taken from a single Spoonbill, while 

 Mr. Horace Beach reports "as many as a half a dozen on a fish in 

 the spring of the year", and says that the fishes leap out of the 

 water and fall on their sides, probably to rid themselves of the 

 parasites. 



Not until recently was the Paddlefish considered of any value, 

 its flesh being regarded as worthless; but now it is one of the most 

 highly valued and most assiduously sought fishes of the Missis- 

 sippi Valley. It is chiefly sought on account of its roe, which is 

 manufactured into caviar, for which it is regarded as not inferior 

 to the sturgeon. The eggs are greenish black in color, about three 

 times the size of shad eggs, and very numerous. The flesh of the 

 Paddlefish, though coarse, is nutritious and not unpalatable, closely 

 resembling that of the catfish when fresh, and when smoked not 

 much inferior to that of the sturgeon. There is great demand 

 for the roe, and the flesh always finds a ready sale. One dealer 

 at Louisville, during the four years preceding 1901, handled over 

 700,000 of these fish. 



Head, with opercular flap, more than half total length ; without 

 flap, about 5; opercular flap long, nearly reaching ventrals; pre- 

 maxillary extending far behind the small eye; skin smooth or 

 nearly so, except for the rhombic plates on sides of tail; ventrals 

 near middle of body, dorsal well behind them; anal mostly behind 

 the dorsal and somewhat larger, these fins somewhat falcate; fin- 

 rays slender; spiracle with a minute barbel; isthmus papillose in 

 the young; spatula broad, 2.5 to 4 in length of body, proportionally 

 longer in the young. Color pale olivaceous; length 2 to 7 feet. 



