Paddlefish

• GeneralIts flat rostrum detects the electric fields of the plankton it filters as it swims.
• It feeds by filtering zooplankton with its gill rakers as it swims with its mouth open; the adults have no teeth, although the juveniles do.
• Its paddle-shaped snout is covered in electroreceptors with which it locates clouds of plankton in turbid water.
• It vanished from the Great Lakes basin, where it is considered extirpated.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - largely cartilaginous internal skeleton (chondrostean)

Habitat and environment

Large slow rivers, reservoirs and backwaters

Sexual maturity

9 years

Sources consulted: FishBase (Froese & Pauly, eds.); Lista Roja de la UICN (evaluación de 2022); Animal Diversity Web (Universidad de Michigan)

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.