| Zuni bluehead sucker | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cypriniformes |
| Family: | Catostomidae |
| Genus: | Catostomus |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | C. d. jarrovii |
| Trinomial name | |
| Catostomus discobolus jarrovii (Cope, 1874) | |
Catostomus discobolus jarrovii (Zuni bluehead sucker) is a species of fish only found in Arizona and New Mexico [1] in the United States.
The Zuni bluehead sucker has a slender fusiform body with a subterminal mouth. The fish's mouth contains fleshy lips and protuberances, mainly on the lower lips. Both lips are notched laterally, and the middle separation of the lips extends all the way to the fish's anterior margin. The position of the lips is unique to this species. [2] A Zuni bluehead sucker has a generally thick caudal penduncle. For coloration, young Zuni bluehead suckers are dark gray-green dorsally and cream-white ventrally; while adults are slate-gray, being almost black dorsally and cream-white ventrally. Males develop a distinct coloration during spawning season; instead of being slate-gray, they become intense black with a bright red lateral band. [3] Most individuals are 200 mm (7.9 in) at most, although few were found at 250 mm (9.8 in).
The Zuni bluehead sucker can be found in East Central Arizona, and most recently found in four small streams in 1966. Several specimens were collected from East Clear Creek and from Kin Li Chee Creek, but populations decreased in the early 1980s. However, the presence of the Zuni bluehead suckers was confirmed in 1987 and 2000 when individuals were collected again for genetic evaluation. [4]
The Zuni bluehead sucker is New Mexico's most endangered fish, as it is listed on the New Mexico Game and Fish's endangered species list. The Zuni Mountains area south of Grants, New Mexico, provides the only habitat for this species. [5]
The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish is working collaboratively with several agencies to bring back the Zuni bluehead sucker from near extinction. [6]
Zuni bluehead suckers are found in stream habitats with shade and substrates such as bedrock, boulders, and cobble. Pools are often edged by emergent aquatic vascular plants. [7]
Zuni bluehead suckers eat algae and invertebrates off of rocks with the cartilaginous scraper in their mouths. [7]
Zuni bluehead suckers spawn in April through late May, when water temperature reaches 10–15 °C (50–59 °F). Females are usually larger than males, and produce about 200-300 eggs (larger females can produce more than 450). [7]
Due to poor watershed management, the populations of the Zuni bluehead sucker decreased 90% in the last 20 years. These fish are now only found in fragmented, somewhat isolated stretches of their historic range. [7]
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 black redhorse is a species of freshwater fish endemic to Ontario and the eastern half of the United States, where it lives in streams and small to medium rivers.
The river redhorse is a species of freshwater fish endemic to the eastern half of the United States and southeastern Canada. They can range from 10 to 30 inches in length and can potentially reach a weight of more than 10 pounds after maturity. It is typically found in clear, large creeks and rivers, though it is sometimes also found in lakes. They are sometimes speared or caught with hook and line using crayfish or worms as bait.
The roundtail chub is a cyprinid fish in the genus Gila, of southwestern North America. It is native to the Colorado River drainage basin, including the Gila River and other tributaries, and in several other rivers. It is part of the “robusta complex”, which includes the Gila robusta robusta, G.r. grahami, and G.r. seminuda.
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 Colorado pikeminnow is the largest cyprinid fish of North America and one of the largest in the world, with reports of individuals up to 6 ft (1.8 m) long and weighing over 100 pounds (45 kg). Native to the Colorado River Basin of the southwestern United States and adjacent Mexico, it was formerly an important food fish for both Native Americans and European settlers. Once abundant and widespread in the basin, its numbers have declined to the point where it has been extirpated from the Mexican part of its range and was listed as endangered in the US part in 1967, a fate shared by the three other large Colorado Basin endemic fish species: bonytail chub, humpback chub, and razorback sucker. The Colorado pikeminnow is currently listed as vulnerable by the IUCN, while its NatureServe conservation status is "critically imperiled".
The bonytail chub or bonytail is a cyprinid freshwater fish native to the Colorado River basin of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming in the southwestern United States; it has been extirpated from the part of the basin in Mexico. It was once abundant and widespread in the basin, its numbers and range have declined to the point where it has been listed as endangered since 1980 (ESA) and 1986 (IUCN), a fate shared by the other large Colorado basin endemic fish species like the Colorado pikeminnow, humpback chub, and razorback sucker. It is now the rarest of the endemic big-river fishes of the Colorado River. There are 20 species in the genus Gila, seven of which are found in Arizona.
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.
The beautiful shiner is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found in Mexico and Arizona and New Mexico in the United States. It is one of 22 species of Cyprinella found in North America.
The bluehead sucker 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.
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.
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.
Thoburnia rhothoeca is a species of fish native to Virginia and West Virginia.
The yellow Irish lord is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Agonidae It is found in the northern Pacific Ocean.
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.
