The Tahoe sucker (''Catostomus tahoensis'') is a freshwater

Cypriniform Cypriniformes is an order of ray-finned fish, including the carps, minnows, loaches, and relatives. Cypriniformes is an Order within the Superorder Ostariophysi consisting of "Carp-like" Ostariophysins. This order contains 11-12 families ...

fish inhabiting the Great Basin region of the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the We ...

Description

The Tahoe sucker is a large, long fish with a tapering head. It can grow up to 24 inches in larger lakes. Its rather large

suckermouth In fish, a suckermouth is a ventrally-oriented (inferior) mouth adapted for grazing on algae and small organisms that grow on submerged objects. All Loricariidae possess a suckermouth as do the cypriniform algae eaters of the genus ''Gyrinocheilus' ...

is located on the bottom of the head. The

caudal fin 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 ...

is moderately forked. There are 83 to 87 scales in the lateral line. They are very dark above, lighter below, with dusky fins. Breeding males display a bright red lateral line.

Distribution and habitat

These fish are native to the

Lahontan Basin Lake Lahontan was a large endorheic Pleistocene lake of modern northwestern Nevada that extended into northeastern California and southern Oregon. The area of the former lake is a large portion of the Great Basin that borders the Sacramento Rive ...

of southeastern

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, and northeastern

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 ...

, of which it is one of the most common fishes. It has also been introduced into the upper

Sacramento River The Sacramento River ( es, Río Sacramento) is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento� ...

system. The total adult population is believed to number over 100,000, and it is considered to be common or abundant in its various habitats. They are mainly found in large lakes and

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

s, but can also be found in ponds in lower reaches of streams. Adults occupy moderate depths. Young are found in shallow waters or tributary streams.

Diet habits

Tahoe suckers are largely

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpar ...

, but have also been found to feed on insects and mirco-

crustaceans 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 gro ...

Reproduction

Tahoe suckers reach sexual maturity between 2 and 5 years of age, with males tending to mature earlier. Differences in age at which maturity is reached exist between various populations. Those in Pyramid Lake mature several years earlier than those in Lake Tahoe.

Fecundity Fecundity is defined in two ways; in human demography, it is the potential for reproduction of a recorded population as opposed to a sole organism, while in population biology, it is considered similar to fertility, the natural capability to pr ...

is believed to be related to size, with age being of secondary influence. Nuptial tubercles begin appear on both sexes prior to the onset of the mating season, although they are rare on females. On males they form distinct rows on the

anal Anal may refer to: Related to the anus *Related to the anus of animals: ** Anal fin, in fish anatomy ** Anal vein, in insect anatomy ** Anal scale, in reptile anatomy *Related to the human anus: ** Anal sex, a type of sexual activity involving s ...

and

s. The Tahoe sucker prefers to

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: ...

over rock and gravel substrates. After scattering her eggs into the gravel bed, the female shakes them down into the substrate. Simultaneously, the attendant males release their sperm in order to fertilize the released eggs.

Importance to humans

Historically, the Tahoe sucker was largely ignored by the indigenous

Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Paiu ...

peoples, who preferred Cutthroat trout and

Cui-ui The cui-ui (''Chasmistes cujus'') is a large sucker fish endemic to Pyramid Lake and, prior to its desiccation in the 20th century, Winnemucca Lake in northwestern Nevada. It feeds primarily on zooplankton and possibly on nanoplankton (such as ...

sucker. Despite the fish's size and good taste, it continues to have no economic significance.

References

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q6424148 Tahoe sucker Endemic fauna of the United States Fish of the Western United States Freshwater fish of the United States Fauna of California Fauna of the Great Basin Natural history of Nevada Natural history of Oregon Taxa named by Theodore Gill Taxa named by David Starr Jordan Tahoe sucker