Where do paddlefish live?
Paddlefish are well adapted to living in rivers. Paddlefish are known to occur from large rivers throughout much of the Mississippi Valley and adjacent Gulf slope drainages in North America. They frequent many types of riverine habitats but often seek out deeper, low current areas such as side channels, backwaters, oxbow and other river-lakes, and tailwaters below dams. Paddlefish are highly mobile and have been observed to move more than 2000 miles in a river system.
Why do paddlefish have a long snout? What do they eat?
Paddlefish can be distinguished from other freshwater fish by the presence of a very large mouth, and a long, paddle-shaped snout (called a rostrum) that is about one third the length of the body. Early investigators thought that paddlefish used the rostrum to dig food items from the bottom or to dislodge them from vegetation |
