During spawning paddlefish gather in schools. Details are not well understood, but it is believed several males accompany a female. Eggs and sperm are released as the fish swim over suitable habitat. Incubation takes about nine days at 57 degrees Fahrenheit. The snout does not become prominent for several weeks after the fry hatch.
Young fish grow quickly.
Fish less than one and a half years old have attained lengths of three feet in controlled pond situations. Although the large mouth is imposing, paddlefish are harmless plankton feeders inhabiting open water, for the most part, where they can filter large quantities of water for plankton. Fish commonly reach sizes of 40-60 pounds, but specimens over seven feet long and weighing over 160 pounds have been reported. Distribution Paddlefish are native to Lake Erie, the Mississippi River drainage including the upper stretches of the Missouri and Ohio rivers, and adjacent Gulf slope drainages from the San Jacinto River in Texas to the Mobile Bay area in Alabama. In Texas paddlefish were once found in every major river from the Trinity River eastward.