Paddlefish

Paddlefish are a family of ray-finned fish belonging to the order Acipenseriformes. There are 8 genera in total, the two main species being the American and Chinese paddlefish, and the other 5 being fossil genera.

Aside from the American paddlefish, there is a hypothetical extinct species called "Polyodon" tuberculata, but there's not a lot of information about it.

 Description 
Just like sturgeons, paddlefish have a cartilaginous skeleton. They also have a unique feature; their notochord is still there despite growing up.

 Classification 

 Family Polyodontidae Bonaparte, 1838 (paddlefish)
 Genus †Protopsephurus Lu, 1994
 Genus †Paleopsephurus MacAlpin, 1941a
 Genus †Pugiopsephurus Hilton et al., 2023
 Genus †Parapsephurus Hilton et al., 2023
 Subfamily Polyodontinae Grande & Bemis, 1991 non Pflugfelder, 1934
 Genus †Crossopholis Cope, 1883
 Genus Polyodon Lacépède, 1797 (American paddlefish)
 Genus †Psephurus Günther, 1873 (Chinese paddlefish)

 Habitat 

 P. spathula 
See the main article: American paddlefish

The American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) once lived in oxbow lakes, big rivers, and more. However, it is now limited to the Mississippi possibly due to overfishing.

 P. gladius 
See the main article: Chinese paddlefish

The Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gladius) lived in the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers while it was still alive, but now, it's extinct.

 Gallery 

 References 

 "Chinese paddlefish, one of world's largest fish, declared extinct". Animals. 8 January 2020.
 Grande, Lance; Jin, Fan; Yabumoto, Yoshitaka; Bemis, William E. (2002). "Protopsephurus liui, a well-preserved primitive paddlefish (Acipenseriformes: Polyodontidae) from the Lower Cretaceous of China". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
 "†Crossopholis Cope 1883". Paleobiology Database.

Category:Polyodontidae
Category:Animals of North America
Category:Freshwater fish