Paddlefishes Temporal range: [1]
| |
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American paddlefish, Polyodon spathula | |
Chinese paddlefish, † Psephurus gladius | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Acipenseriformes |
Suborder: | Acipenseroidei |
Family: | Polyodontidae Bonaparte, 1838 |
Genera | |
Recent genera Fossil genera |
Paddlefish (family Polyodontidae) are a family of ray-finned fish belonging to order Acipenseriformes, and one of two living groups of the order alongside sturgeons (Acipenseridae).[3][4] They are distinguished from other fish by their elongated rostra, which are thought to enhance electroreception to detect prey. Paddlefish have been referred to as "primitive fish" because the Acipenseriformes are among the earliest diverging lineages of ray-finned fish, having diverged from all other living groups over 300 million years ago. Both living and fossil paddlefish are found almost exclusively in North America and China.[5]
Eight species are known: Six of those species are extinct, and known only from fossils (five from North America, one from China),[2] one of the extant species, the American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula), is native to the Mississippi River basin in the U.S. The other is the Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gladius), which was declared extinct in 2022 following a 2019 recommendation;[6][7][8] the species has not been sighted in the Yangtze River Basin in China since 2003.[9][10] Chinese paddlefish are also commonly referred to as "Chinese swordfish", or "elephant fish".[11] The earliest known paddlefish is Protopsephurus, from the early Cretaceous (Aptian) of China, dating to around 120 million years ago.
Paddlefish populations have declined dramatically throughout their historic range as a result of overfishing, pollution, and the encroachment of human development, including the construction of dams that have blocked their seasonal upward migration to ancestral spawning grounds.[12] Other detrimental effects include alterations of rivers which have changed natural flows resulting in the loss of spawning habitat and nursery areas.[13]