American Paddlefish

I was almost eaten by one of these when I was younger visitng my grandparents at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri.  They don't eat meat, but this thing tried to swallow me whole. 

The American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) is currently known from the Mississippi River watershed in the United States, including slow-flowing waters of the Mississippi River itself, as well as various tributaries including the Missouri River, Ohio River, Yellowstone River, Wisconsin River, Des Moines River, and Arkansas River systems. These fish were also found historically in Lake Erie, in the Great Lakes, but in May 2000, the Canadian Species at Risk Act listed the paddlefish as being extirpated in Canada.


The American paddlefish is one of the largest freshwater fish in North America. They commonly reach 5 feet (1.5 m) or more in length and can weigh more than 60 pounds (27 kg). The largest American paddlefish on record, weighing 144 pounds (65 kg), was caught by Clinton Boldridge in the Atchison Watershed in Kansas. The largest unofficial record was 206 pounds from Lake Cumberland in Kentucky;[citation needed] postcards from the 1960s[which?] show a photo of this huge fish.

Fossils of other kinds of paddlefish have been found. One such species is Crossopholis magnicaudatus, from the Eocene-age Green River Shale deposit in Wyoming.