Summary ²

The American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) is a species of basal ray-finned fish closely related to sturgeons in the order Acipenseriformes. Fossil records of paddlefish date back over 300 million years, nearly 50 million years before dinosaurs first appeared. American paddlefish are smooth-skinned freshwater fish commonly called paddlefish, but are also referred to as Mississippi paddlefish, spoon-billed cats, or spoonbills. They are one of only two extant species in the paddlefis

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Adrian Macedo, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Adrian Macedo
2. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyodon_spathula

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• FishBase
• FishSource
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• VertNet
• World Register of Marine Species

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