The bridgelip sucker (''Catostomus columbianus'') is a fish in the family
Catostomidae
The Catostomidae are the suckers of the order Cypriniformes, with about 78 species in this family of freshwater fishes. The Catostomidae are almost exclusively native to North America. The only exceptions are '' Catostomus catostomus,'' found in ...
that occupies the
Columbia River system. Like all sucker fish, they live only in
fresh water. Bridgelip suckers have a tendency to live in deeper waters during the day and move into shallower water around evening time. As adults they eat
periphyton
Periphyton is a complex mixture of algae, cyanobacteria, heterotrophic microbes, and detritus that is attached to submerged surfaces in most aquatic ecosystems. The related term Aufwuchs (German "surface growth" or "overgrowth") refers to the col ...
(green growth and microorganisms found on submerged substrata). Adolescents, however, eat aquatic hatchlings and zooplankton. Adult bridgelip sucker range in size from 5 inches to 17 inches. They
spawn
Spawn or spawning may refer to:
* Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise
** '' Spawn: ...
around May, when the water temperature is between 8-13 C, and lay somewhere around 9,955 and 21,040 eggs. Inside of the Columbia River system, the bridgelip sucker shares much of its territory another similar looking sucker, the
largescale sucker
The largescale sucker (''Catostomus macrocheilus'') is a species of sucker, a type of freshwater fish, found in western North America.
Description
It has a rounded snout with a downturned mouth on its underside (as opposed to a mouth at end of ...
.
References
Catostomus
Fish described in 1893
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