US EPA

2191379 

Technical Report 

Reproduction, age and growth analysis of paddlefish, Polyodon spathula, in the falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation area 

Gundersen, DT; Pearson, WD 

1993 

BIOSIS/93/28831 

54 

1-2 

1-2 

English 

BIOSIS COPYRIGHT: BIOL ABS. The status of paddlefish populations at the Falls of the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky (USA) is in question. This is due to habitat alteration, commercial fishing and high levels of PCBs being detected in the reproductive tissues of paddlefish from this area. Information on age, growth and sex of paddlefish collected from the Falls area was obtained between May 1988 and October 1989, to better evaluate the status of these populations. Paddlefish were captured with large mesh gill nets. Stranded paddlefish (54% of total) were also captured by hand and with dip nets shortly after the closing of McAlpine Dam. All fish were sexed and measured for total lengths, and the dentary bone of each fish was removed for age determinations. A total of 33 paddlefish were collected (20 males and 13 females). Most of the fish collected (70%) were between the ages of 6 and 12. The rate of growth of paddlefish appeared to be rapid for the first 3 years since lengths of 90 cm were pos