Yaqui sucker

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Yaqui sucker
Catostomus bernardini.jpg
Yaqui sucker in centre
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Catostomidae
Genus: Catostomus
Species:
C. bernardini
Binomial name
Catostomus bernardini
Girard, 1856

The Yaqui sucker (Catostomus bernardini) is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Catostomidae. It is found in 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. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Contents

Description

The Yaqui sucker's body is fusiform and somewhat elongated, with relatively large head and eyes. The lips can be distinguished in that they are less fleshy than other Arizona suckers. The high dorsal fin has twelve fin rays. Anal, pelvic, and dorsal fins are all particularly larger in males than females. Laterally lined scales usually numbering between 62 and 73 mark the body of this sucker, and its head is counter shaded light below and dark above. The dorsal and caudal fins are dark, with other fins being either white or yellow. The Yaqui sucker can be easily mistaken with its close relative, Catostomus insignis , unless the fin rays are counted.

Distribution in Arizona

This particular species of sucker can be found in a variety of places within the southwest, ranging from the Yaqui River in Mexico, to the Cajon Bonito south of Douglas in Cochise County. Since 1978, populations have decreased drastically with little recovery. They have completely disappeared from San Bernardino Creek, and The Endangered Species Act is currently trying to protect those in Cochise County. Most have been extirpated since 1968.

Habitat

The widespread elevation change in this species allows for a variety of habitats. The Yaqui sucker has a wide-ranging thermal tolerance that allows it to inhabit aquatic systems from the lowest desert streams to the highest of mountain brooks, in all biotic communities from desert scrub up to and including semi-desert grassland. The Arizona biomes restrict the Yaqui sucker to mud-bottomed pools, which must be surrounded by riparian vegetation. In Mexico, however, the sucker prefers gravel-bottomed pools and streams. The gravel areas of the Yaqui River provide a more beneficial spawning area for the Yaqui sucker.

Reproduction and biology

Spawning will usually take place early in the calendar year, particularly March and April due to specific water temperature preferences. During these periods the males will turn blue, while the females remain a yellowish brown. Juvenile suckers will immediately have exponential growth spurts, reaching 75% of their full length within the first year. Heavy predation and sexual selection could be contributing to these trends in growth. Little else is known about the reproductive habits and parental characteristics of this particular species of sucker, probably because federal permits to study endangered species are difficult to obtain. Suckers prefer fast and shallow runs during flooding seasons, and will retreat to slower and deeper pools during droughts. Suckers eat by pulling food off of the bottom of streams; therefore a heavy amount of sediment discharge is needed. This is why the loss of wetlands and environmental pressures are so detrimental to the sucker. Wetland loss and lack of sediment discharge/recharge are strongly correlated to the disappearance of the species.

Conservation

Arizona placed the Yaqui sucker on the Endangered species list in 1988, and little has been done to recover their numbers. Aquifer pumping, reduction in stream flows, and predation from non-native green sunfish, are all major contributing factors to the decline of the species according to Nature Serve (2002).[ citation needed ] The San Bernardino Ranch has current plans to reintroduce individuals in attempt to recharge the population, and other projects involve federal habitat preservation. Dexter National Fish Hatchery has had the most success, because they have developed an effective method for reintroducing the species, and providing the criteria for spawning.

Related Research Articles

<i>Catostomus</i> Genus of fishes

Catostomus is a genus of fish belonging to the family Catostomidae, commonly known as suckers. This genus of fish usually lives in freshwater basins. Most members of the genus are native to North America, but C. catostomus is also found in Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonytail chub</span> Species of fish

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beautiful shiner</span> Species of fish

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonora chub</span> Species of fish

The Sonora chub is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found in Mexico and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gila chub</span> Species of fish

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.

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

The Yaqui chub is a species of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found in northern Mexico and the United States. The Yaqui chub is a medium-sized minnow fish that historically occurred in streams of Rios Matape, Sonora, and the Yaqui systems of Sonora, Mexico. It is one of the five species of the genus Gila in Arizona. The Yaqui chub is closely related to G. ditaenia, and G. orcutti ; and shares several physical characteristics with the G. orcutti, but proves different by having a black wedge near the base of the caudal fin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Colorado spinedace</span> Species of fish

The Little Colorado spinedace is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found only in Arizona in the United States.

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

The spikedace is an endangered species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found in Arizona and New Mexico in the United States. It lives in fast-moving streams.

<i>Ictalurus pricei</i> Species of fish

Ictalurus pricei, the Yaqui catfish, is a species of North American freshwater catfish native to Mexico and Arizona.

The Gila longfin dace is a subspecies of the longfin dace found in Arizona. It is considered the nominate subspecies of the longfin dace.

The Yaqui longfin dace is a small fish of the American Southwest and northern Mexico, and considered a form of the longfin dace. It is often referred to as Agosia chrysogaster sp 1.

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. The other species in this genus, Campostoma are morphologically similar.

<i>Catostomus discobolus</i> Species of fish

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.

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

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.

<i>Catostomus latipinnis</i> Species of fish

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 Arizona and New Mexico in the United States.

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

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.

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

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.

References

  1. NatureServe (2019). "Catostomus bernardini". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2019: e.T4039A129655860. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T4039A129655860.en . Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. Hendrickson, D.A., et al. 1980. Fishes of the Rio Yaqui Basin, Mexico and United States. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science 15(3):75-77.
  3. Lowe, C.H., Editor. 1964. The vertebrates of Arizona. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. p. 144.
  4. Minckley, W.L. 1973. Fishes of Arizona. Arizona Game and Fish Department, Phoenix. pp. 163-164.
  5. Page, L.M., and B.M. Burr. 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes: North America, north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. p. 171.
  6. Rinne, J.N., and W.L. Minckley. 1991. Native fishes of arid lands: a dwindling resource of the desert southwest. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, General Technical Report RM-206. Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Fort Collins, Colorado. pp. 19-21.
  7. Arizona Game and Fish Department. In prep. Wildlife of special concern in Arizona. Arizona Game and Fish Department Publication. Phoenix, Arizona. 32 pp.