The Utah sucker (''Catostomus ardens'') is a species of freshwater fish in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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 ...

found in the upper

Snake River The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake ...

and the

Lake Bonneville Lake Bonneville was the largest Late Pleistocene paleolake in the Great Basin of western North America. It was a pluvial lake that formed in response to an increase in precipitation and a decrease in evaporation as a result of cooler temperature ...

areas of western

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 ...

where it lives in a wide range of habitats. It is a large sucker growing up to long. It is generally blackish above, vaguely streaked and blotched, with a white belly. A narrow rosy lateral band extends backwards from the head. The mouth has thick lips and is on the underside of the head. Some populations are in decline because of anthropogenic factors but overall this fish is not threatened.

Description

This is a large fish that can grow up to 25.5" (65 cm) in length. Relatively elongate for a

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 ...

, the

back The human back, also called the dorsum, is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral column run ...

area between the 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 ...

is somewhat elevated. The mouth is entirely under the snout, with thick lips, of which the upper lip has eight rows of coarse

papilla Papilla (Latin, 'nipple') or papillae may refer to: In animals * Papilla (fish anatomy), in the mouth of fish * Basilar papilla, a sensory organ of lizards, amphibians and fish * Dental papilla, in a developing tooth * Dermal papillae, part of ...

e, the second and third rows from the inside being significantly larger. Color is generally blackish above, with a faint pattern of blotches or spots, a narrow rosy band on the anterior part of each side, while the underside is white. The long

anal 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 se ...

is placed well back, the tip reaching as far back as the base of 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 se ...

. The

has seven rays, while the dorsal has 13 rays. Recent genetic studies have revealed deep, but morphologically cryptic, population subdivision (about 4.5% sequence divergence) between drainages of the ancient Snake River and the Bonneville Basin.

Distribution

The Utah sucker is native to the upper

and the

areas of western

. It lives in a variety of habitats in its range, being found in lakes, rivers, and streams, in warm or cold water, and over substrates of silt, sand, gravel, or rocks, preferably in the vicinity of vegetation.

Status

Some populations are in decline due to anthropogenic factors, including

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

, water-flow diversion, migration barriers, chemical pollutants, and competition with exotic species. In 1881,

David Starr Jordan David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Univer ...

and

Charles Henry Gilbert Charles Henry Gilbert (December 5, 1859 in Rockford, Illinois – April 20, 1928 in Palo Alto, California) was a pioneer ichthyologist and Fisheries science, fishery biologist of particular significance to natural history of the western Unit ...

observed that this sucker "occurs in

Utah Lake Utah Lake is a shallow freshwater lake in the center of Utah County, Utah, United States. It lies in Utah Valley, surrounded by the Provo-Orem metropolitan area. The lake's only river outlet, the Jordan River, is a tributary of the Great Salt La ...

in numbers which are simply enormous"; the population seems to have boomed and crashed several times since then. Taxonomic nomenclature for this species is disputable, with ''Catostomus ardens'' in Utah Lake being confused with the

June sucker The June sucker (''Chasmistes liorus'') is an endangered species of fish endemic to Utah Lake and the Provo River in the U.S. state of Utah. It is a gray or brownish fish with a paler belly, growing up to about . It lives alongside the Utah sucker ...

, ''Chasmistes liorus'', and the name ''Catostomus fecundus'' being used for a time.

References

Ira La Rivers Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name * Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law * Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status o ...

, ''Fishes and Fisheries of Nevada'' (University of Nevada Press, 1994), pp. 344–349 *
Geographic patterns of genetic variation in Utah sucker
''Utah sucker genetics''. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2614079

Utah sucker The Utah sucker (''Catostomus ardens'') is a species of freshwater fish in the family (biology), family Catostomidae found in the upper Snake River and the Lake Bonneville areas of western North America where it lives in a wide range of habitats. ...

Endemic fauna of the United States Fish of the Western United States Freshwater fish of the United States Fauna of the Northwestern United States Fauna of the Rocky Mountains Fish described in 1881