White sucker

White sucker
Temporal range: Early Pleistocene to recent
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
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 commersonnii
    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

The white sucker (Catostomus commersonii)[1][2][3] is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, but it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico. 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 (C. catostomus), because they look very similar.

  1. ^ a b NatureServe (2013). "Catostomus commersonii ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T202058A2733467. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T202058A2733467.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ "ITIS Standard Report Page: Catostomus commersonii ". www.itis.gov.
  3. ^ taxonomy. "Taxonomy Browser". www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.