The white sucker ( Catostomus commersonii)
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.
Distribution and habitat
The white sucker is highly adaptable to different
and changing environmental influences.
Generally, the white sucker is found in small streams, rivers, and lakes in the Midwest and East Coast of the United States.
The white sucker is also relatively tolerant of
Turbidity and polluted waters.
It does, however, have low breeding success in acidified waters, which can be caused by
acid rain.
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,
, and dorsal, pectoral, and pelvic fin rays.
[Grinnell, Jon; . "Vertebrate Zoology Biology 242 Laboratory Instructions". Gustavus Adolphus College.] When full grown, it can reach lengths of and weigh . 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.
The white sucker is often mistaken for different species of suckers and
, but can be distinguished by the complete
lateral line system containing 55–85 small scales.
The white sucker is able to use chemosensory to sense and avoid predators and other conspecific species during day and night.
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
,
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.
Two or more males may gather with one female, which releases up to 10,000 eggs that can be fertilized by the gathered males.
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 fish; 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 taken from the Rainy River near Loman, Minnesota in 1984.
Fossil record
Fossils of this fish,
C. commersonii, in the
United States occur as early as the Early Pleistocene (1.8 million years ago).
Further reading
-
Lacépède BG (1803). Histoire naturelle des poissons, Tome cinquème. Paris: Chez Plassan. lxviii + 803 pp. ( Cyprinus commersonnii, new species, pp. 604–611). (in French and Latin).
External links
