Spoonbill Fish Skull

A scaleless fish with a cartilage skeleton a very large mouth and a long paddle shaped rostrum that is often 1 3 of their total length.

Spoonbill fish skull. The american paddlefish polyodon spathula is a species of basal ray finned fish closely related to sturgeons in the order acipenseriformes fossil records of paddlefish date back over 125 million years ago during the early cretaceous american paddlefish are smooth skinned freshwater fish commonly called paddlefish but are also referred to as mississippi paddlefish spoon billed cats or. This highly developed sensory organ helps these filter feeders locate food and navigate their surroundings. In life the paddle shaped snout is covered by thousands of electroreceptors that detect the swarms of zooplankton on which the paddlefish feeds. The paddlefish is a primitive fish whose only living relative is a large fish psephurus that lives in the larger rivers of china.

Spoonbill catfish were once endangered but are making a comeback. Spoonbill catfish polyodon spathula the spoonbill catfish also known as the paddle fish is one of most ancient fish around. Spoonbill catfish are not actually catfish at all as the name implies. They have been referred to as primitive fish because they have evolved with few morphological changes since the earliest fossil records of the early cretaceous 120 to 125 million years ago polyodontids are almost exclusively north american and chinese both extant and in the fossil record.

They are also one of the oddest looking fish species. Commonly referred to as spoonbill catfish the paddlefish is not at all related to that group of fish. The paddlefish is a magical fantastic looking fish. While its boneless body is similar to a sharks its bizarre appearance is shared by only one living relative in china.

The skeletal artistry of the paddlefish skull december 27 2018 a simply mind blowing preparation of the skull of an american paddlefish polyodon spathula. Paddlefish family polyodontidae are basal chondrostean ray finned fish. All horns not antlers must be wrapped tightly with plastic wrap then wrapped completely with duct tape to keep them clean dry and to prevent beetle damage. Positions of our paddlefish mounts our paddlefish fish replicas are available in customer pleasing high action anatomical poses as in traditional slight bend to the head slight bend to the tail swimming pose leaping pose and rolling down poses.

Remove excess flesh in back top and sides of skull. Remove eyes including meat underneath remove tongue and detach the jaw. 17 3 4 inches x 3 3 8 inches greatest width at tip paddlefish polyodon spathula skull.