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PHYLUM:
Chordata; CLASS: Osteichthyes; SUPERORDER: Teleostei
FAMILY: Catostomidae
GENUS: Catostomus; SPECIES: commersoni;
DESCRIBER: (Lacépède)
Position
of Catostomus
commersoni in
worldwide arrangement of fish species.
What
are COMMON
WHITE SUCKERS?
Common
White Suckers are rather large, 30 - 50 cm (12 - 20
in) round to oval, cylindrical fish with overhanging
upper lips, members of the freshwater family Catostomidae.
Their backs, tops of heads and upper sides are gray
to brown; their bellies and bottom of heads are cream
to white. They are restricted to freshwater North
America where they live from British Columbia eastward
to lakes along the Atlantic Ocean.
Common White Suckers live in warmer, shallow lakes
or shallow bays where they are bottom feeders, eating
mainly
insect larvae
and nymphs, molluscs, various aquatic crustacea, sideswimmers
(amphipods),
and aquatic mites.
EARLY
LIFE HISTORY of COMMON
WHITE SUCKERS:
Spawning
Season of the Adult COMMON WHITE SUCKER: Spring, April to mid-May.
Where COMMON WHITE SUCKER Eggs are Found:
Eggs are broadcast in loose gravel, mainly in rivers and
streams.
Characteristics of Eggs: Demersal, non-adhesive, no oil globules,
diameter of eggs 2.0 to 3.6 mm.
Size of Babies at Hatching: ca. 8 to 9 mm at 4 to 19 days of incubation.
Movements of COMMON WHITE SUCKER Babies
after hatching: Baby COMMON WHITE SUCKERS
hatch from between stones and gravel and form groups
or schools in rivers, and drift and swim downstream
in schools following shorelines, an "edge effect" surely
being important. They subsequently school, downstream
along shores in shallow water in lakes, pools, inlets
or other bodies of water.
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