12 CHECK LIST OF THE 



membranes considerably connected but free from isthmus ; a single broad 

 branchiostegal. No barbels. Nostrils double at base of blade. Lateral 

 line continuous, its lower margin with short branches. Dorsal fin well 

 back, of soft rays only; anal similar, rather further back; tail heterocercal, 

 the lower caudal lobe well developed, so that the fin is nearly equally 

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

 plates, caudal fin with fulcra. Pectorals moderate, placed low, ventrals 

 abdominal, many rayed. Air bladder cellular, not bifid ; pyloric caeca in 

 the form of a short branching leaf -like organ ; intestine with a spiral valve. 



GENUS POLYODON. (PADDLEFISHES.) 



Gill rakers exceedingly numerous, very slender ; spatula broad. 

 Caudal fulcra thirteen to twenty in number, of moderate size. Characters 

 otherwise those of the family. 



(3) Paddlefish. 



(Polyodon spathula.) 



The body of the Paddlefish is fusiform, with the snout much produced, 

 spatulalike. Body scaleless, covered with smooth skin; mouth broad, 

 terminal ; 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 ; pseudorbanchiae 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 upper part 

 of head along dorsal outline to tail ; eye small ; dorsal and anal fins far 

 back, composed of soft rays, nearly opposite ; tail heterocercal, well forked ; 

 sides of the bent portions of the tail armed with rhombic plates. The 

 pectoral fins are of moderate size and placed low; ventrals many rayed, 

 abdominal. _ 



This peculiar fish cannot well be confounded with any other species 

 found in North American waters. It takes its name from its remarkable 

 snout, which is produced into a long spatulalike process, covered with an 

 intricate network and having very thin flexible edges. 



In the Great Lakes the Paddlefish occurs but rarely, its centre of 

 abundance being the larger streams of the Mississippi Valley; there are, 

 however, two records of its capture in Ontario waters ; one taken near 

 Sarnia, now mounted and in the Fisheries Museum at Ottawa ; the other, 

 a fine specimen taken at Spanish River, Georgian Bay, in 1886, is also 

 mounted and in the office of the Bureau of Fisheries, Toronto. 



The flesh of this fish is coarse, but considered by some to be fairly 

 good for table use. Of its habits little seems to be known, except that 

 it is somewhat sluggish and prefers water with a muddy bottom. It grows 

 to a length of five or six feet and specimens in the south have been taken 

 weighing one hundred and fifty pounds. 



