White sucker

The white sucker (Catostomus commersonii)[2][3][4] is a freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, but is also found as far south as Georgia and New Mexico in the south and west. 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.

White sucker
Temporal range: Early Pleistocene to recent

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Catostomidae
Genus: Catostomus
Species:
C. commersonii
Binomial name
Catostomus commersonii
(Lacépède, 1803)
Distribution in the United States (also occurs in Canada)
Synonyms
  • Cyprinus commersonii 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

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.

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 between 12 and 20 in and weigh 2 to 6 pounds. The fish's suckermouth with its fleshy lips are located in the inferior position at the bottom of its head, as the fish obtains its food from bottom surfaces.[5] These fish are also commonly mistaken for different types of suckers and redhorse, but can be distinguished by the complete lateral line system containing 55-85 small scales.[6]

Distribution and habitat

Since the fish is highly adaptable to different habitats and changing environmental influences.[6] Generally, however, white suckers are found in small streams, rivers, and lakes in the Midwest and East Coast of the United States.[7] The white sucker is also relatively tolerant of turbid and polluted waters.[6]

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.

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.[7]

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 6lb 8oz taken from the Rainy River near Loman, Minnesota in 1984.[8]

Fossil record

Fossils of this fish in the United States occur as early as the Early Pleistocene (1.8 million years ago).[9]

References
  1. Smith, K.; Darwall, W.R.T. (2009). "Syncrossus commersonii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009. Retrieved 20 August 2017.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. "ITIS Standard Report Page: Catostomus commersonii". www.itis.gov.
  3. "Catostomus commersonii (White Sucker)". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  4. taxonomy. "Taxonomy Browser". www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
  5. Jon Grinnell, Flowyd Downs. "Vertebrate Zoology Biology 242 Laboratory Instructions." Gustavus Adolphus College
  6. Rook, J.S.E. "Catostomus commersoni/White Sucker". 1999. http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/fish/catostomuscom.html
  7. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. "White Sucker" 2012.
  8. "Sucker, White". igfa.org. International Game Fish Association. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  9. "Fossilworks: Catostomidae". paleodb.org.
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