The spotted sucker (''Minytrema melanops'') is a species of

sucker Sucker may refer to: General use * Lollipop or sucker, a type of confection * Sucker (slang), a slang term for a very gullible person * Hard candy ** Cough drop ** Mint (candy) Biology * Sucker (botany), a term for a shoot that arises undergro ...

(fish) that is native to eastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. The spotted sucker inhabits deep pools of small to medium rivers over clay, sand or gravel. They are occasionally found in creeks and large rivers. Through its life stages, the spotted sucker goes from a mid-depth predator to a bottom forager. Spotted suckers have a lifespan of approximately six years and spawn in April and May. Limited knowledge of the occurrence, abundance, and natural history of this species has been an impediment to status assessment and the determination of need for conservation measures within this family.

Description

Spotted suckers have a dark spot at the base of each scale giving them the appearance of having many rows of small black spots on their body and can reach about 19 inches.

Geographic distribution

The spotted sucker has a very wide distribution. They are widely found throughout the central and

southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

and reach

southern Canada The list of regions of Canada is a summary of geographical areas on a hierarchy that ranges from national (groups of provinces and territories) at the top to local regions and sub-regions of provinces at the bottom. Administrative regions that ran ...

. They are distributed within and east of the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

and

Mississippi River basin The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

but these species are at the southeastern limits of their distribution in the

Apalachicola River The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately 160 mi (180 km) long in the state of Florida. The river's large watershed, known as the ACF River Basin, drains an area of approximately into the Gulf of Mexico. The distance to its fa ...

. It is found in the lower Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basins from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

and in Atlantic and Gulf Slope drainages 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 ...

to western Texas. Populations in the United States have remained stable and they are still relatively common. The spotted sucker prefers clean, clear bodies water with a firm substrate. It is reported that they are abundant in

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. In South Texas, oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called '' resacas''. In Australia, oxbow lakes are call ...

s and other areas without a strong current. They do not tolerate pollution or siltation very well and because of this they have been lost in some areas of their historic range such as

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. Numbers are also declining in areas such as

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

."Spotted Sucker Minytrema Melanops." Spotted Sucker Minytrema Melanops. Texas State University - San Marcos, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. Farther north in Canada the species is a species of concern due to declining numbers and deteriorating

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

. This represents the northernmost area of their range, so they may have always been rare in Canada.

Ecology

The feeding habits of ''M. melanops'' show a distinct change throughout its life cycle. As larvae the fish feed upon individual

zooplankton Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...

. Larvae up to 25 millimeters in length were observed feeding in shallow back waters during the day. The spotted sucker begins to ingest organic matter once they reach approximately 25 millimeters. It is at this length that they become

bottom feeder A bottom feeder is an aquatic animal that feeds on or near the bottom of a body of water. Biologists often use the terms ''benthos''—particularly for invertebrates such as shellfish, crabs, crayfish, sea anemones, starfish, snails, bri ...

s. At about 50 millimeters ''Minytrema'' begins to feed on the substrate and benthos and sand become part of the stomach contents. As larvae and juvenile ''Minytrema'' feeds in schools, but as they become adults they separate to feed in deeper waters. There is not much known about the feeding habits of adults. It is believed that suckers feed primarily during dusk and dawn. Spotted suckers primarily feed upon organic fragments,

copepod Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthos, benthic (living on the ocean floor) ...

cladocera The Diplostraca or Cladocera, commonly known as water fleas, are a superorder of small crustaceans that feed on microscopic chunks of organic matter (excluding some predatory forms). Over 1000 species have been recognised so far, with many more ...

ns, and

chironomids The Chironomidae (informally known as chironomids, nonbiting midges, or lake flies) comprise a family of nematoceran flies with a global distribution. They are closely related to the Ceratopogonidae, Simuliidae, and Thaumaleidae. Many species ...

. Other benthic invertebrates have been found in gut contents, but are not a large part of the diet.David S. White and Kim H. "Foods and Feeding Habits of the Spotted Sucker, ''Minytrema melanops'' (Rafinesque)." Haag American Midland Naturalist (1977): 137-146. The stomach content of spotted suckers varies with the time of the year. In the spring, summer, and autumn large numbers of zooplankton are ingested. In the summer and autumn chironomids are also found. This shows the change in abundance with the change in season. Numerically, organic fragments and sand are most abundantly found in the gut. This is followed by

diatom A diatom (Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατέμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group comprising sev ...

s, copepods and cladocerans making up much of the remainder. From the differences in abundance and types of particles in gut contents from different populations, it appears that ''Minytrema'' is not selective for any particular group, but harvests those groups that are seasonally or regionally abundant. Predators of the spotted sucker typically vary depending on the environment. It depends heavily on clean waters with no silt to survive. It prefers sluggish water, but has been found in some turbid environments. Human activities have caused for the streams that ''Minytrema'' lives in to become silted, thus making it hard for them to survive. However, dams have also caused impoundments which can cause slower moving waters and boost populations.

Life history

Spawning season for the spotted suckers begin anywhere from early March to early May when the water temperature reaches approximately . The fish migrate upstream to smaller

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 ...

in January to spawn in

riffle A riffle is a shallow landform in a flowing channel. Colloquially, it is a shallow place in a river where water flows quickly past rocks. However, in geology a riffle has specific characteristics. Topographic, sedimentary and hydraulic indica ...

s containing gravel substrates. There are usually two males for every female. As the female approaches, the males bump and prod her in the abdomen. The males then clasp the posterior half of the female between themselves on either dies. They vibrate their caudal sections and head toward the surface. During this time semibouyant eggs are released downstream. There is no parental care by the adults. The males do not guard the nest and leave after the act of spawning. Both sexes are able to spawn more than once in a season. The eggs will hatch after seven to ten days depending on the water temperature and will reach sexual maturation after three years. The lifespan is generally six years. However, fish in the southeast and to only live for five years. It is unknown why this is. Early development of ''M. melanops'' is quite similar to that of other catostomids. Larvae can be identified by

fin ray Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as see ...

counts,

myomere Myomeres are blocks of skeletal muscle tissue arranged in sequence, commonly found in aquatic chordates. Myomeres are separated from adjacent myomeres by connective fascia (myosepta) and most easily seen in larval fishes or in the olm. Myomere ...

counts, and pigmentation.Coughlan, D. J., B. K. Baker, D. H. Barwiick, A. B. Garner, and W. R. Doby. "Catostomid fishes of the Wateree River, South Carolina." Southeastern Naturalist(2012): 305-320.

Conservation and management

Spotted suckers are not federally listed as endangered or threatened in the United States. However, in Canada the number of spotted suckers is very low. They are listed as a species of concern and fishermen are asked to report any sightings they have of the fish in order to keep a current count of fish populations. The suckers do not usually

hybridize Hybridization (or hybridisation) may refer to: *Hybridization (biology), the process of combining different varieties of organisms to create a hybrid *Orbital hybridization, in chemistry, the mixing of atomic orbitals into new hybrid orbitals *Nu ...

with other species.Etnier, David A., and Wayne C. Starnes. The Fishes of Tennessee. Knoxville: University of Tennessee, 1993. Print. Overfishing is not a problem for this species. While they generally taste pretty good to eat, the flesh has a lot of bones making it difficult to clean them.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3764709 Catostomidae Freshwater fish of the Southeastern United States Fish described in 1820 Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque Freshwater fish of North America