White Sucker
| White sucker Temporal range: to Recent |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cypriniformes |
| Family: | Catostomidae |
| Genus: | Catostomus |
| Species: | C. commersonii |
| Binomial name | |
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Catostomus commersonii Lacépède, 1803 |
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The white sucker (Catostomus commersonii) 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.
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 (Catostomus catostomus), because they look very similar.
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, as well as dorsal, pectoral, and pelvic fin rays. When fullgrown, it can reach lengths between 12 and 20 inches long and weigh anywhere from 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. 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.
Since the fish is a bottom feeder and has no preferential food options, it is highly adaptable to different habitats and changing environmental influences. Generally, however, White suckers are 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 turbid and polluted waters.
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.
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Wikipedia