Paddlefish: Anatomy of a Living Fossil

The North American Paddlefish, now thought to be the only species of its kind after the presumed extinction of the Chinese Paddlefish, is a living fossil with complex and fascinating anatomical features. ERDC scientists are studying the strong, web-like structure of its rostrum, for example, in hopes of replicating it for use as material to protect military buildings, vehicles and soldiers from attack. Here, ERDC's Jan Jeffrey Hoover provides an in-depth look at Paddlefish anatomy. Paddlefish are native to the Mississippi River and its tributaries.

The specimen here was handled carefully and in accordance with institutionally approved animal care guidelines. During filming, it was immersed in river water at 2-3 minute intervals and, at the end of filming, was released unharmed. It can be seen at the end of the video swimming off away from the camera.

[WyomingRancher]

I worked in paddlefish research on the rivers of Montana for a few years. I did not know many of these facts, they are even cooler than I thought! Thanks for the info!

[danroberts]

I caught one of these on the White River in Arkansas back in the early 80's. I of course snagged him while reeling in my line from fishing for catfish. My grandfather told me what it was and I have never seen one since. I also caught that day a sturgeon in the same area. Again never happened again. So cool to see this documentary explaining this complex fish.

[wbreid]

Please read the description. This fish was immersed in water every 2-3 minutes. It was not harmed during the filming. Enjoy the video. Thanks.

[MysticMD]

wow paddle fish can stay this long out of the water without dying ??!!

[Doktracy]

Most amazing video on paddlefish I’ve ever seen!

[theoryofeverything]

I came here to see how a paddlefish looks like ! I became very sad after I got to know Yahtzee paddlefish were extinct and they belonged to Jurassic era

[bdavis]

A friend of mine just caught a paddle fish in Tuttle creek Kansas. Never seen one before until then. It’s an interesting fish like the gar

[albertyonan]

can we raise paddle fish on a outdoor fish pond?

[arrythestarry]

Funfact: very recently it was discovered stergent and paddlefish can hybridize

[cathyjobaker]

My fave freshwater fish! I did not know they even existed until I learned to scuba dive and paddlefish inhabit most of the quarries where I dive. I'm so sad about the Chinese paddlefish's extinction. Thanks so much for this video!

Hey thanks! You absolutely answered so many questions .Amazing video 👏. Hey is there any way you could do a video about catfish?

[dwarflanternsharkfriend]

Wow! So much cool stuff about a fish I somehow barely knew existed!

[Dmanfp]

Dam didn't know they could/ do leap... Hopefully I'll see some some day. Their cousins, the gulf sturgeon are quite a sight and very much worth saving

[Oilfieldtrash.]

I caught one of these beautiful fish today on the Mississippi. It was 79.1 lbs. I felt bad catching it. Here in ND there is catch and release days, and days where you have to tag and keep them by law. Unfortunately I had to tag him. I would have loved to release him. It was a rush fighting a paddlefish that size.

[junioralcantara]

Poor little paddlefish he's cooking it alive in the Sun he's going to go back into his paddlefish family with a sunburn

[MichaelRafferty-xbiy]

It's crazy this species lives in the US instead of somewhere like the Amazon or Mekong.

[missourimongoose]

I just had a paddlefish steak last weekend and man they are good

[popescuandrei]

Hi, is there no rig to catch these fish without having to snag fish for them? I'd like to safely release the fish eventually and snag fishing can cause serious damage on the fish :P

[jessebaker]

Now fossilized in the Maastrichtian Hell Creek Formation at a site in North Dakota, sturgeon and paddlefish believed killed in the K-T impact event of 65 million years ago are stars in a scientific paper by Melanie During, Jan Smit &c., “The Mesozoic terminated in boreal spring, ” Nature, March 2022; No paywall. The authors there discuss tiny spherules caught in the gill rakers of those fish; the spherules were ejecta from the impact returning to earth and falling in the water around the fish, which were probably feeding at the time. The impact’s massive seismic disturbance, arriving in North Dakota a few minutes later, then buried them. The open paddlefish mouth shown in this video makes it obvious how easily the spherules must have gotten into the gill rakers of the fossil fish. Pretty cool, if the authors’ reconstruction stands up over the long run.

[mohdfirdausmohdfesool]

Thank you for the info. Can you release him back into the water..