430 
ORDERS OF FISHES— THE PADDLE-FISH 
and personal observations, I should place the 
average length of the Paddle-Fish at 45 inches, 
and weight 25 to 30 pounds. 
The U. S. Bureau of Fisheries’ records show that 
this fish is now coming into use as food, and is find- 
ing a ready sale in the markets of the region it in- 
habits. In some places its flesh is smoked and sold 
as sturgeon. Its eggs, which are very numerous, 
and greenish-black in color, make excellent caviar, 
and are being so utilized at Louisville, Kentucky, 
and along the Mississippi, in Mississippi and 
Tennessee. 
In 1899, sixteen states participated in the 
catching of Paddle-Fish, Mississippi leading with 
981,080 pounds, and followed by Arkansas, Ten- 
nessee, Illinois and Missouri, in the order named. 
The total catch was 2,543,950 pounds, valued at 
$82,343. 
In a limited sense the Paddle-Fish inhabits the 
Mississippi valley, from Louisiana to Minnesota, 
the Ohio, and the Missouri to South Dakota, 
which is a wide range for a fish so peculiarly 
formed. 
