White sucker

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White sucker
Temporal range: Early Pleistocene to recent
White Sucker, Catostomus commersonii.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Catostomidae
Genus: Catostomus
Species:
C. commersonii
Binomial name
Catostomus commersonii
(Lacépède, 1803)
HUC Dispersal Map - Catostomus commersonii.png
Distribution in the United States (also occurs in Canada)
Synonyms
  • Cyprinus commersonnii
    Lacepède, 1803
  • Cyprinus teres
    Mitchill, 1814
  • Catostomus bostoniensis
    Lesueur, 1817
  • Catostomus communis
    Lesueur, 1817
  • Catostomus flexuosus
    Rafinesque, 1820
  • Cyprinus reticulatus
    Richardson, 1836
  • Catostomus gracilis
    Kirtland, 1838
  • Catostomus pallidus
    DeKay, 1842
  • Catostomus sucklii
    Girard, 1856
  • Catostomus chloropteron
    Abbott, 1860
  • Catostomus alticolus
    Cope, 1874
  • Moxostoma trisignatum
    Cope, 1875
  • Catostomus richardsoni
    Harper & Nichols, 1919

The white sucker (Catostomus commersonii) [1] [2] [3] 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.

Contents

Other common names for the white sucker include bay fish, brook sucker, common sucker, and mullet. The white sucker is often confused with the longnose sucker (C. catostomus), because they look very similar.

Etymology

The specific name, commersonii, is in honor of French naturalist Philibert Commerson. [4]

Description

The white sucker is a long, round-bodied fish with a dark green, grey, copper, brown, or black back and sides and a light underbelly. The fish also has typical features of primitive Cypriniformes fishes, such as a homocercal tail, cycloid scales, and dorsal, pectoral, and pelvic fin rays. [5] When full grown, it can reach lengths of 12–20 in (30–51 cm) and weigh 2–6 lb (0.91–2.72 kg). The fish's suckermouth, with its fleshy lips, is located in an inferior position at the bottom of its head, as the fish obtains its food from bottom surfaces. [5] The white sucker is often mistaken for different species of suckers and redhorses, but can be distinguished by the complete lateral line system containing 55-85 small scales. [6] The white sucker is able to use chemosensory to sense and avoid predators and other conspecific species during day and night. [7]

Distribution and habitat

The white sucker is highly adaptable to different habitats and changing environmental influences. [6] Generally, the white sucker is found in small streams, rivers, and lakes in the Midwest and East Coast of the United States. [8] The white sucker is also relatively tolerant of turbid and polluted waters. [6] It does, however, have low breeding success in acidified waters, which can be caused by acid rain. [9]

Diet habits

The white sucker is a bottom feeder, meaning that it uses its fleshy lips to suck up bottom sediments and other organisms that may be located there. It will eat almost anything it can, but most commonly small invertebrates, algae, and plant matter. Larger predatory fish species such as walleye, trout, bass, northern pike, catfish, muskellunge, and sauger naturally prey on the white sucker.[ citation needed ]

Reproduction

The white sucker usually spawns in shallow water or streams in April and May; spawning may possibly be initiated by temperature changes and runoff from early snow melt. [6] Two or more males may gather with one female, which releases up to 10,000 eggs that can be fertilized by the gathered males. [8]

Importance to humans

A very common fish, the white sucker is usually not fished for food, though some consider it good to eat. It is most often used as bait; the young are sold as sucker minnows. When it is eaten by humans, it is usually processed and sold under the name of mullet. The IGFA world record for white sucker stands at 6 lb 8 oz (2.94 kg) taken from the Rainy River near Loman, Minnesota in 1984. [10]

Fossil record

Fossils of this fish, C. commersonii, in the United States occur as early as the Early Pleistocene (1.8 million years ago). [11]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Longnose sucker</span> Species of fish

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.

<i>Catostomus</i> Genus of fishes

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain sucker</span> Species of fish

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black redhorse</span> Species of fish

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden redhorse</span> Species of fish

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shorthead redhorse</span> Species of fish

The shorthead redhorse is a wide-ranging species in North America. The shorthead redhorse is native to central and eastern North America. However, its range has expanded to include areas like the Hudson estuary and Grayson County, Texas. It inhabits small to large rivers and lakes, and lives in the benthic zone. Shorthead redhorse feed on benthic invertebrates and can consume plant material from the benthic environment that it inhabits. When it spawns, shorthead redhorse move into more shallow streams and spawn over gravel or rocky shoals. They will also spawn in springs with swift moving water. The shorthead redhorse is important to humans because it is a game fish. It is also important to anglers because of its role in the ecosystem; it is prey for larger game fish such as northern pike and muskellunge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern hogsucker</span> Species of fish

The northern hogsucker is a freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Catostomidae, the suckers. It is native to the United States and Canada where it is found in streams and rivers. It prefers clear, fast-flowing water, where it can forage on the riverbed for crustaceans, mollusks, aquatic insects, algae and detritus. It turns over small pebbles and scrapes materials off rocks and sucks up the particles, and other species of fish sometimes station themselves downstream from its activities so as to garner disturbed food fragments. Breeding takes place on gravel bottoms in shallow riffles in late spring. This fish is susceptible to such man-made disturbances as channelization, sedimentation, pollution, and dam construction. However, it has a wide range and is a common species so the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yaqui sucker</span> Species of fish

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warner sucker</span> Species of fish

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desert sucker</span> Species of fish

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rio Grande sucker</span> Species of fish

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References

  1. 1 2 NatureServe (2013). "Catostomus commersonii ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2013: e.T202058A2733467. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T202058A2733467.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. "ITIS Standard Report Page: Catostomus commersonii ". www.itis.gov.
  3. taxonomy. "Taxonomy Browser". www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
  4. "White Sucker". NatureNorth. http://www.naturenorth.com.
  5. 1 2 Grinnell, Jon; Downs, Floyd. "Vertebrate Zoology Biology 242 Laboratory Instructions". Gustavus Adolphus College.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Rook, J.S.E. "Catostomus commersoni / White Sucker". 1999. http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/fish/catostomuscom.html
  7. Jordbro, Di Rocco, R. T., Imre, I., Johnson, N. S., & Brown, G. E. "White sucker Catostomus commersonii respond to conspecific and sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus alarm cues but not potential predator cues. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 42(4), 849–853. ". https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2016.04.003
  8. 1 2 Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. "White Sucker" 2012.
  9. "A Canadian Scientist Explains How Acid Rain is Still Making its Mark". IISD Experimental Lakes Area. 2018-05-16. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  10. "Sucker, White". igfa.org. International Game Fish Association. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  11. "Fossilworks: Catostomidae". paleodb.org.

Further reading