The Roanoke hogsucker (''Hypentelium roanokense'') is a

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

found in the upper and middle Roanoke River basin in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. It is very similar to and lives in the same area as the northern hogsucker. They are in the sucker family, Catostomidae. Many anglers enjoy catching them due to their ability to put up a good fight. They are not considered a game fish and are considered significantly rare due to their limited distribution.

Description

The Roanoke hogsucker can get up to 16 cm in total length. It has a body shape similar to the other hogsuckers having a boxy head, protruding lips, and dark saddles. The Roanoke hogsucker is very often mistaken for the northern hogsucker, but can be distinguished by four things. It has light horizontal lines on its back and sides, poorly developed dark saddles between its head and

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

, 41 scales on its

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

, and 31 pectoral fin rays.

Distribution and habitat

The Roanoke hogsucker is indigenous to the

Dan River The Dan River flows in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Virginia. It rises in Patrick County, Virginia, and crosses the state border into Stokes County, North Carolina. It then flows into Rockingham County. From there it flows back int ...

subdrainage of the upper and middle Roanoke River Basin in North Carolina and Virginia. They have been found in several small

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage b ...

of the Ararat River in the upper Yadkin-Pee Dee River system in North Carolina and Virginia but is believed to have been introduced there from bait buckets. The Roanoke hogsucker is well adapted to many environments and can be found typically on the bottom throughout its fresh water river ecosystem. It is found in cool and warm

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

s. It can be found in fast flowing rocky streams and sandy silty bottom pools.

Diet

The Roanoke hogsucker eats small

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e (mostly fly larvae), and

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic character ...

on rocks.

Behavior

Reproduction

The Roanoke hogsucker's life cycle and

reproduction Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents. Reproduction is a fundamental feature of all known life; each individual or ...

has not been fully studied. Males are reproductively mature after one or two years and typically live for four years. Females mature in three years and typically live for five years. Spawning occurs early to mid-spring. Very little is known about their breeding habits.

Human interest

The Roanoke hogsucker is often found in the same areas as bass but is not considered a game fish. It is considered "significantly rare" by the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program because of its limited distribution. It poses no threat to

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

s other than if an angler was to sneak up on one and it darts away and causes the angler to slip. The populations are in no immediate danger but could be quickly harmed if the habitat they live in is not protected from human damage.

References

External links

*http://ncpedia.org/wildlife/roanoke-hogsucker *http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.aspx?SpeciesID=2905 *http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/speciesSummary.php?ID=2991&AT=Roanoke+hog+sucker {{Taxonbar, from=Q6406968 Catostomidae Fish described in 1947 Freshwater fish of the United States