Finally...the elusive Paddlefish

[H2Andy]

anybody know much about these fish?

i read somewhere that their paddle is a kind of electric sensor that allows them
to locate plankton, BUT if they get their paddle damaged or cut off, they can
STILL find plankton somehow.

weird, no?

 

[Thalassamania]

Here you go Grasshopper (try google next time, it can make you look smart): Paddlefish

 

[H2Andy]

well, YOU need google to make you look smart

i use my big bad brain



(in Ed Sullivan voice: thank you, Topogiggio)

 

[KidK9]

I've searched quite a while for the paddlefish in Gilboa, but haven't seen him yet. Nice shot!

 

[do it easy]

anybody know much about these fish?

i read somewhere that their paddle is a kind of electric sensor that allows them
to locate plankton, BUT if they get their paddle damaged or cut off, they can
STILL find plankton somehow.

weird, no?

I've seen this particular one close up on a few occassions and it's paddle is a little mis-shaped (perhaps from an accident?). It's not the classic smooth "duckbill" that other, luckier paddlefish will have. There is even one in Mermet that has a bent bill, as if it ran into a wall or something. I've heard about the sensors in the paddle, but I don't know if they are required or not. The fish do have tiny eyes, so I suppose, worse case scenario, they could swim around all day with their mouth open and hope that they catch enough to eat.

I did see the skeletal remains of the paddle- Tina might have it on display at Haigh- it's a criss-crossed lattice of bony "fibers"- kinda like thin, fused bones.

I wonder if we could chum the water with algae and plankton to attract them?

 

[O'Malley]

Great history, Tony (Do It Easy)...predating the dinasour era? crazy stuff, indeed.

If you manually set wb and took that shot, chances are it would be clearer.... but at any rate looks like there's some distance between you and the fish.

Just prior to taking the photos, I was in aperture mode but when I looked again following the shots, I was in auto...must have accidentally been rotating the selector dial with my gloves. It will be nice when the water warms and I can trade in the 7mm gloves for the dexterity of the 1.5mm variety. Yeah, the photo was taken approximately 15 feet from the subject and had the strobe been firing (was set to no pre-flash), wouln't have made much difference anyway.

 

[pcowboy6196]

AKA: SpoonBill Catfish. They are Abundant now here in Oklahoma after years of preservation. They were over harvested for their roe like sturgeon used to be, to make caviar. Yes they are ancient creatures and only eat plankton and other algae. They are quite easy to be seen at the bottoms of dams where they populate for the amount of algae growth on the walls. I have personally seen a 7footer which was caught by one of my uncles when I was young. Very intriguing animals.