Bluehead sucker | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Cypriniformes |
Family: | Catostomidae |
Genus: | Catostomus |
Species: | C. discobolus |
Binomial name | |
Catostomus discobolus Cope, 1871 | |
Synonyms | |
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The bluehead sucker (Catostomus discobolus) is endemic to the intermountain Western US. A total of 23 members of the genus Catostomus has been found in North America. C. discobolus and C. yarrowi are two sister species that have very similar Arizona habitats. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
The bluehead sucker is the largest of all Arizona endemic suckers, reaching lengths over 11.8 in. Their colors are very similar to the desert sucker, with dark green or dark silvery top portions and light yellow bottoms. The bluehead has the largest lips of any sucker and has tiny papillae on the lower lip. This is also the only species with the absence of an inguinal process, just behind the pectoral fins, distinguishing it from the other eight suckers. The lower lip is slightly notched at the midline, with lateral line scales in large numbers that range from 70 to 100. They have 7 to 9 dorsal fin rays and a smaller number of caudal fin rays. During breeding, the males obtain a blue patch on the top of their large heads, and the lower fins become yellow/orange with red/rosy lateral lines. These drastic coloration changes are probably due to sexual selection and female mate choice. An easy way to distinguish the bluehead from the other Arizona suckers is the distinct cartilaginous lower jaw.
Primary records are concentrated at the Colorado River main stem and the Grand Canyon tributaries, as well as the Colorado River drainages at Lake Mead. Blueheads are also found at Snake River above Shoshone Falls and Bear/Weber River drainages. Scattered reports around the Bonneville Basin have been made. Arizona bluehead sucker distributions are more specifically the Clear, Bright Angel, Shinumo, Kanab, and Havasu Creeks, they are becoming increasingly common below Diamond Creek. Some can be found on the Navajo Reservation and within the San Juan River basin. They can be found at elevations of 609 to 2060 m.
Bluehead suckers prefer larger streams and rivers due to their larger size, but they can be found in a variety of habitats. [9] This species has a wide temperature preference, as well, ranging from cold mountain brooks at 12 °C to warmer desert rivers at 27 °C. If times are good and water is clear, the suckers stay in shallow streams and eddies during the day, finding their way to hard-bottomed streams to forage at night. Primary spawning areas include the Grand Canyon tributaries within the Colorado River drainages.
The bluehead sucker spawns in the spring/summer when water temperatures reach > 15 °C. Males join females in gravel/sandy-bottomed streams and copulation begins, taking only a few seconds. In the Grand Canyon tributaries, mating can extend through April, May, and July. This species will not mate unless the water depth is strictly lower than 1 m, probably because the shallow water is easily heated to their desired temperature by the sun. Juveniles grow exponentially fast, reaching lengths of 60 mm and reaching sexual maturity within the first year.
Suckers use their cartilaginous jaws to scrape the algae and detritus off the stones at the bottom, and despite any shortages of these foods, suckers show little seasonal movement. Diatoms, detritus, algae, and other organic debris have been found in the gut. They can also live to be more than 20 years old.
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The longnose sucker is a species of cypriniform freshwater fish in the family Catostomidae. It is native to North America from the northern United States to the top of the continent. It is also found in Russia in rivers of eastern Siberia, and thus one of only two species of sucker native to Asia.
Catostomus is a genus of fish belonging to the family Catostomidae, commonly known as suckers. Most members of the genus are native to North America, but C. catostomus is also found in Russia. Fish from different species of the genus are known to readily hybridize with each other.
The mountain sucker is a sucker found throughout western North America, on both sides of the Rocky Mountains, including the upper Missouri River, Columbia River, Sacramento River, and Colorado River. It is not limited to higher altitudes but is known from locations as high as 2,800 m (9,200 ft). It is a slender, streamlined fish typically under 20 cm (8 in) in length. It is generally olive green or brown above, with pale underparts, and breeding males have a lateral red-orange band and fins suffused with the same color. It is mainly herbivorous, feeding on algae and diatoms. Breeding takes place in late spring and early summer in gravelly riffles in small streams.
The Santa Ana sucker is a freshwater ray-finned fish, endemic to California. It is closely related to the mountain sucker and has dark grey upper parts and silvery underparts. It grows to a maximum length of 25 cm (10 in), but most adults are much smaller than this. It feeds on algae, diatoms and detritus on the floor of shallow streams with sand, gravel or cobble bottoms. It is found in only a few streams in southern California, and many of these in the Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area have been restricted to concrete channels. Because of its small area of occupancy and vulnerability, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated this fish as "endangered".
The golden redhorse is a species of freshwater fish endemic to Ontario and Manitoba in Canada and the Midwestern, southern, and eastern United States. It lives in calm, often silty or sandy waters in streams, small to large rivers, and lakes.
The Utah sucker is a species of freshwater fish in the family Catostomidae found in the upper Snake River and the Lake Bonneville areas of western North America where it lives in a wide range of habitats. It is a large sucker growing up to 25 in (64 cm) long. It is generally blackish above, vaguely streaked and blotched, with a white belly. A narrow rosy lateral band extends backwards from the head. The mouth has thick lips and is on the underside of the head. Some populations are in decline because of anthropogenic factors but overall this fish is not threatened.
The razorback sucker is a suckerfish found in rivers and lakes in the southwestern United States and formerly northwestern Mexico. It can grow to 91 cm (3 ft) in length and is recognisable by the keel between its head and dorsal fin. It used to inhabit much of the Colorado River Basin but commercial fishing, river damming, habitat loss, and predation by non-native fishes have caused great declines in populations. It is now restricted to the Colorado River upstream of the Grand Canyon and to four reservoirs, Lake Mead, Lake Mohave, Lake Havasu, and Lake Powell.
The Yaqui sucker is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Catostomidae. It is found the Aridoamerica region of northern Mexico and south-western United States. Catostomus bernardini or Yaqui sucker belongs to the family Catostomidae. The Yaqui sucker is related to the Sonora sucker and could possibly be a subspecies of the Gila sucker.
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The Gila chub is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found in Mexico and the United States. The Gila chub is closely related to the roundtail chub. This species is commonly found in association with the Gila topminnow, the desert and Sonora sucker, and the longfin and speckled dace.
The Mexican stoneroller is a species of fish native to Arizona and Texas in the United States and parts of adjacent Mexico. It belongs to the carp family, Cyprinidae. There are three other species in this genus, Campostoma anomalum, Campostoma oligolepis, and Campostoma pauciradii, which are morphologically similar.
The Sonora Sucker, Catostomus insignis, is a medium-sized catostomid fish with 16 other species in the genus scattered throughout North America. This species is remarkably similar in appearance to the Yaqui Sucker.
Catostomus latipinnis is a North American fish identified by its enlarged lower lips. It belongs to the genus Catostomus, commonly known as suckers. Historically, the flannelmouth sucker ranged in the Colorado River Basin, including parts of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, California, and Arizona; however, this species has been entirely extirpated from the Gila River Basin in Arizona.
The Little Colorado River Sucker or Little Colorado sucker is a scientifically undescribed species of North American freshwater fish very similar to the flannelmouth sucker but without the flannelmouth's distinct fleshy lips. The Little Colorado sucker is native to the upper region of the Little Colorado River in Arizona, but was also introduced into the Salt River.
Catostomus discobolus jarrovii is a species of fish only found in North America.
The desert sucker or Gila Mountain sucker, is a freshwater species of ray-finned fish in the sucker family, endemic to the Great Basin and the Colorado River Basin in the United States. It inhabits rapids and fast-flowing streams with gravelly bottoms. It is a bi-colored fish with the upper parts olive brown to dark green, and the underparts silvery-tan or yellowish. The head is cylindrical, tapering to a thick-lipped mouth on the underside. This fish can grow to 31 in (79 cm) in Arizona but is generally only about half this size elsewhere. There are three subspecies, found in different river basins, and some authorities allot this species its own genus Pantosteus.
The white sucker is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, but it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico. The fish is commonly known as a "sucker" due to its fleshy, papillose lips that suck up organic matter and aufwuchs from the bottom of rivers and streams.
The Rio Grande sucker is a North American freshwater fish in the family Catostomidae. It has a typical bottom-feeding phenotype and fills lower trophic levels alongside Rio Grande cutthroat trout and Rio Grande chub species. It is smaller sized in comparison to its other family members, with females being the larger between sexes. Coloration tends to benefit the species due to counter-shading patterns. It is endemic to the Rio Grande basin and was once common throughout. The species has maintained a population in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Northern Mexico, but has faced challenges from the pressure of non-native species, habitat loss, degradation, and a variety of other aquatic ecosystem changes. There is current pressure from environmental organizations to federally list the species as threatened or endangered.