The Owens sucker (''Catostomus fumeiventris'') 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 ...

which is endemic to California.

Description

The Owens sucker is similar to the Tahoe sucker (''Catostomus tahoensis'') but it has coarser scales and is duller in colour. The adults are slaty coloured, although some individuals can be very dark, with dusky bellies which are especially noticeable in spawning males. It grows to a maximum size of 50 cm but is more usually around 30 cm in total length.

Distribution

It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the

Owens River The Owens River is a river in eastern California in the United States, approximately long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 17, 2011, It drains into and through the ...

in the

Owens Valley Owens Valley ( Numic: ''Payahǖǖnadǖ'', meaning "place of flowing water") is an arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States. It is located to the east of the Sierra Nevada, west of the White Mountains and Iny ...

of eastern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and has been introduced into June Lake in the

Mono Lake Mono Lake ( ) is a saline soda lake in Mono County, California, formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in an endorheic basin. The lack of an outlet causes high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake which make its water a ...

basin and to the Santa Clara River system as a result of a release of water from the Owens River through the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Although the status of the population in the Santa Clara system is uncertain and any introduced fish may hybridise with the Santa Ana sucker (''Catostomus santaanae''). It is abundant in the

Crowley Lake Crowley Lake is a reservoir on the upper Owens River in southern Mono County, California, in the United States. Crowley Lake is south of Mammoth Lakes. The lake was created in 1941 by the building of the Long Valley Dam by the Los Angeles Depa ...

with populations in Convict Lake and

Lake Sabrina Lake Sabrina is a lake created by damming the middle fork of Bishop Creek. It is located south-west of Bishop, California on California State Route 168, in the Inyo National Forest. It has a cafe as well as a dock. The dam was built in 1907– ...

and a population has been established in the Owens River sanctuary.

Habitat

Owens suckers are primarily found on the softer substrates in cool streams but they will be demersal inhabitants lakes and reservoirs.

Biology

Owens suckers are nocturnal, their diet consists of aquatic insects, algae, detritus, and organic matter. They spawn from May through to early July over gravel substrates, in tributaries, although lake living populations will also spawn over gravelly areas of the lake beds and springs. The larvae become juveniles once the attain a total length of 19–22 mm, the juveniles hide along stream margins and in backwaters among weeds.

References

{{Authority control Owens sucker Endemic fauna of California Fish of the Western United States Freshwater fish of the United States Fauna of the Great Basin Owens River Owens Valley Natural history of Inyo County, California Fish described in 1973