Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Paddlefishes Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Acipenseriformes Family: Polyodontidae Species Polyodon spathula Psephurus gladius Paddlefishes (family Polyodontidae) are bizarre-looking primitive ray-finned fisheses whose snouts are greatly elongated, about 1/2 the length of the rest of the body. There are only two living species: the Chinese and the Mississippi. The Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gladius) lives in the Yangtze River. 3-meter specimens weighing 300 kg have been recorded; the reports of 7-meter fish are doubtful. The Mississippi paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) lives in the slow-flowing waters of the Mississippi River system. External links FishBase entry for Polyodontidae USGS UMESC Paddlefish Study This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.