desert sucker
{{Short description|Species of fish}}
{{Speciesbox
| image =Desert Sucker.JPG
| image_caption = Desert sucker, Castostomus clarkii
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status2 = G3
| status2_system = TNC
| taxon = Catostomus clarkii
| authority = S. F. Baird & Girard, 1854
| synonyms = *Pantosteus clarkii (Baird & Girard, 1854)
- Notolepidomyzon utahensis Tanner, 1932
- Notolepidomyzon intermedius Tanner, 1942
}}
The desert sucker or Gila Mountain sucker (Catostomus clarkii), 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 {{Convert|31|in|cm|0|abbr=on}} 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.
Description
Desert suckers are bicolored; the back and upper sides are darker, olive-brown to dark green, and the belly and lower sides are deep-yellow to silvery tan. The scales on the upper half of the body have dark spots which form faint dashed lines. Their head is cylindrical, tapering to a blunt face with the lower lip about three times as thick as upper lip. The mouth is on the underside (ventral) of the face and is proportionately large. The dorsal fin of the desert sucker has 10 to 11 rays. The adult lengths range from {{Convert|4|to|16|in}} in smaller streams, but up to {{Convert|31|in}} in Arizona.{{Cite web |url=http://www.gf.state.az.us/h_f/fish_desert_sucker.shtml |title="Desert Sucker" Arizona Game & Fish |access-date=2007-08-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070812041924/http://www.gf.state.az.us/h_f/fish_desert_sucker.shtml |archive-date=2007-08-12 |url-status=dead }} Their weight ranges from {{convert|4|to(-)|65|oz}}.
Distribution
The desert sucker is found in Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.{{cite web |title=Catostomus clarkii |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100434/Catostomus_clarkii |website=NatureServe Explorer An online encyclopedia of life |version=7.1|publisher=NatureServe|access-date=10 August 2023}}Sublette, James E.; Hatch, Michael D. and Sublette, Mary (1990) "Catostomus (Pantosteus) clarki Baird and Girard - desert sucker: Distribution" The Fishes of New Mexico University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico, page 207, {{ISBN|0-8263-1179-2}} The desert sucker occurs in the lower Colorado River basin, below the Grand Canyon, particularly in the Gila River, and above the Grand Canyon in streams in the Virgin River basin, the White River basin and others. The total range area of the desert sucker is estimated at {{Convert|128000|km2|sqmi|-3|abbr=on}}.Pyron, Mark (1999) "Relationships between geographical range size, body size, local abundance, and habitat breadth in North American suckers and sunfishes" Journal of Biogeography 26(3): pp. 549-558, p. 557
Habitat
Desert suckers prefer ripply waters, rapids and flowing streams with gravelly bottoms.
Reproduction
Desert suckers reach maturity in their second year.Sublette et al. (1990) p.206 Spawning occurs in winter and spring from January through May.Lee et al. (1980)
Subspecies
Three subspecies have been identified: the White River desert sucker, Catostomus clarkii intermedius{{Cite web |url=http://www.desertfishes.org/na/index.shtml |title="DFC North American Fish Index" Desert Fishes Council |access-date=2007-08-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823170603/http://desertfishes.org/na/index.shtml |archive-date=2007-08-23 |url-status=dead }} (sometimes known as White River mountain sucker, Pantosteus intermedius),Clarkson and Minckley (1988) Virgin River desert sucker, Catostomus clarkii utahensis,[http://www.mojavemax.com/eguide/FISH/evaluation/dsucker.htm "Desert sucker: Catostomus clarkii utahensis" Mojave Max] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009112554/http://www.mojavemax.com/eguide/FISH/evaluation/dsucker.htm |date=2007-10-09 }} and the Meadow Valley Wash desert sucker, Catostomus clarkii (unnamed).{{Cite web |url=http://ndow.org/wild/conservation/lip/LIP_Species_Table.pdf |title="Nevada Department of Wildlife LIP Focus Species" Nevada Department of Wildlife |access-date=2007-08-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008143918/http://ndow.org/wild/conservation/lip/LIP_Species_Table.pdf |archive-date=2007-10-08 |url-status=dead }}
Some ichthyologists regarded these as members of the genus Pantosteus, but later authors regard Pantosteus as a subgenus of Catostomus.Sublette et al. (1990) There are suggestions of hybridization between Catostomus clarkii and Catostomus insignis.
References
{{Reflist|2}}
- Lee, David S. et al. (1980) Atlas of North American Freshwater Fishes North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Patricia Ledlie Bookseller Inc, {{ISBN|0-917134-03-6}}
- Clarkson, Robert W. and Minckley, W. L. (1988) "Morphology and foods of Arizona catostomid Fishes: Catostomus insignis, Pantosteus clarki, and their putative hybrids" Copeia 1988: pp. 422–433
- Sublette, James E.; Hatch, Michael D. and Sublette, Mary (1990) "Catostomus (Pantosteus) clarki Baird and Girard - desert sucker" The Fishes of New Mexico University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, pp. 205–207, {{ISBN|0-8263-1179-2}}
- Smith, G. R. 1992. "Phylogeny and biogeography of the Catostomidae, freshwater fishes of North America and Asia" Pages 778-826 In Mayden, R. L. (ed.) (1992) Systematics, historical ecology, and North American freshwater fishes Stanford Univ. Press, Stanford, California, {{ISBN|0-8047-2162-9}}
External links
- {{ITIS|id=163901 |taxon=Catostomus clarkii}}
- {{FishBase|genus=Catostomus|species=clarkii|id=2963}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2712430}}
Category:Endemic fish of the United States
Category:Fish of the Western United States
Category:Freshwater fish of the United States
Category:Fauna of the Southwestern United States
Category:Fauna of the Great Basin
Category:Fauna of the Mojave Desert
Category:Fauna of the Lower Colorado River Valley
Category:Taxa named by Spencer Fullerton Baird