COMMON FISHES OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER 
145 
that the injuries might occur where spillways were opened and water descended with 
irresistible force upon fish playing in formerly quiet pools below the dam. It is 
interesting, in this connection, to note that Stockard observed a well-conditioned 
paddlefish that had lost the greater portion of its “bill” but that evidently had 
thrived and grown without it. (Stockard, 1907.) Whatever the cause, the condition 
continues to the present time, for, according to reliable local reports in 1926, injured 
fish were still, and not uncommonly, seen floundering ineffectually in the river for at 
least 20 miles below the dam. 
Just after the dam was completed an unusual abundance of paddlefish and other 
fishes was observed by Surber (July 10 and 11, 1913) in the water just below the dam. 
(Coker, 1914, p. 10.) The paddlefish was apparently third in abundance among the 
species noted. During the present investigation examples have been taken in the 
vicinity of Keokuk in each month of the year except November and December. 
No observations have been made in December, however, and few in November, so 
that it is a fair inference that the fish is present at all times of the year. 
On the occasion of a visit to Keokuk in August, 1914, the paddlefish was common 
in the swift waters eastward of the tailrace, where it could be captured in floating 
trammel nets employed at night. During the whole of 1915 and in 1916 until late 
summer it was taken only occasionally; this may have been due to high water, but 
seining was not practiced during these times in localities where the paddlefish were 
taken subsequently. From August 1, 1916, until observations were stopped a month 
and a half later from 100 to 600 pounds per week were taken, as learned by weekly 
inquiries at the market. These were found in quiet waters between wing dams. 
In Keokuk Lake (above the dam), near Montrose, Iowa, small paddlefish were 
taken in a seine during the late summer and fall of 1916. Earl Bauter, one of the 
owners of this seine, reported on August 9 that they had caught 8 or 10 during two 
weeks or so before that date; on August 24 he said they had taken 30 or 40 young 
in one haul and some nearly every day; on September 15 his brother, Fred Bauter, 
stated that they were getting about a dozen small ones in each haul. During the 
same period they took adults rarely, and these they sometimes returned in the hope 
that they would breed. Three young collected by them in August measured 38, 
39, and 40 centimeters (15-16 inches) over all (our measurements), the snout making 
over one-third of the total length. These were possibly hatched in the same season, 
and their presence gives strong indication that the species breeds in the lake or river 
north of the dam. Five adults taken near Keokuk in the spring of 1916 were ex- 
amined, but none was in an advanced stage of sexual development. On August 23 
two men who dressed about 100 during the preceding week said that none of them 
contained eggs; that is to say, eggs such as would be visible on casual examination. 
Considering, then, the facts that the paddlefish is found at all seasons at Keokuk 
and that very young specimens have been taken as far north as Minnesota, as far 
south as Cairo and Arkansas, and in the lake just above the dam three years after 
the completion of the dam, we find little ground to suspect that a barrier at Keokuk 
will necessarily exterminate the species either above or below the dam. 
It is desirable to consider the available figures as to the extent of the commer- 
cial fishery. From computations based on the report of Smith (1898) this species 
appears to have constituted 2.4 per cent in quantity of the whole Mississippi River 
fishery product in 1897 3 and 1.4 per cent of that part taken in Iowa, it being sixth in 
> Roe sold separately for caviar not included. 
