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Desert sucker
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cypriniformes
Suborder: Cobitoidea
Family: Catostomidae
Genus: Catostomus
Subgenus: Pantosteus
Species: C. The conservation status of a Species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species remaining extant either in the present day or the near future Near Threatened ( NT) is a Conservation status assigned to species or lower taxa which may be considered threatened with extinction in the near future although The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data List) created in 1963 is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global Chordates ( Phylum Chordata) are a group of Animals that includes the Vertebrates together with several closely related Invertebrates The Actinopterygii (the plural form of Actinopterygius) comprise the class of the ray-finned fishes. The Cypriniformes are an order of ray-finned fish, including the Carps Minnows Loaches and relatives Catostomidae is the sucker family of the order Cypriniformes. Catostomus is a Genus of fish belonging to the family Catostomidae, commonly known as suckers clarkii
Binomial name
Catostomus clarkii
Baird & Girard, 1854

The desert sucker, Catostomus clarkii, is a freshwater species of fish in the sucker family that lives in the Great Basin and the Colorado River basin. Spencer Fullerton Baird ( February 3, 1823 &ndash August 19, 1887) was an American ornithologist and Ichthyologist Charles Frédéric Girard ( March 8, 1822 - January 29, 1895) was a French Biologist specializing on Ichthyology Year 1854 ( MDCCCLIV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year Freshwater is a word that refers to bodies of water such as Ponds lakes rivers and streams containing low concentrations of dissolved Salts and other Total dissolved Fish are aquatic Vertebrate animals that are typically ectothermic (previously Cold-blooded) covered with scales, and equipped with two Catostomidae is the sucker family of the order Cypriniformes. The Great Basin is a large arid region of the western United States. The Colorado River (' Aha Kwahwat in Mojave) is a River in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately

Contents

Description

Desert suckers are bi-colored; the back and upper sides are darker, olive-brown to dark green, and the belly and lower sides are deep-yellow to silvery tan. The scales on the upper half of the body have dark spots which form faint dashed lines. In most biological nomenclature a scale ( Greek lepid, Latin squama) is a small rigid plate that grows out of an Animal Their head is cylindrical, tapering to a blunt face with the lower lip about three times as thick as upper lip. The mouth is on the underside (ventral) of the face and is proportionately large. The dorsal fin of the desert sucker has 10 to 11 rays. A dorsal fin is a Fin located on the backs of some Fishes Whales Dolphins and Porpoises as well as the (extinct The adult lengths range from 4 inches (102 mm) to 16 inches (406 mm) in smaller streams but up to 31 inches (787 mm) in Arizona. [1] Their weight ranges from 4 oz (110 g) to 65 oz (1,840 g).

Distribution

The desert sucker occurs in the lower Colorado River basin, below the Grand Canyon, particularly in the Gila River, and above the Grand Canyon in streams in the Virgin River basin, the White River basin and others. The Colorado River (' Aha Kwahwat in Mojave) is a River in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately The Grand Canyon The Gila /'hilə/ River ( O'odham [Pima]: Gila Akimel) is a Tributary of the Colorado River, 650 Miles (1044 Kilometers The Virgin River is a nearly 160 mile (322 km long tributary of the Colorado River in the southwestern United States. The White River is a small and discontinuous river located in southeastern Nevada, United States. Their total range area is estimated at 128,000 km² (49,000 sq mi). [2]

Habitat

Desert suckers prefer ripply waters, rapids and flowing streams with gravelly bottoms.

Reproduction

Desert suckers reach maturity in their second year. [3] Spawning occurs in winter and spring from January through May. [4]

Subspecies

Three subspecies have been identified: the White River Desert Sucker, Catostomus clarkii intermedius[5] (sometimes known as White River Mountain Sucker, Pantosteus intermedius)[6], Virgin River Desert Sucker, Catostomus clarkii utahensis[5][7], and the Meadow Valley Wash Desert Sucker, Catostomus clarkii (unnamed)[8][5].

Some ichthyologists regarded these as members of the genus Pantosteus[6], but later authors regard Pantosteus as a subgenus of Catostomus[9]. There are suggestions of hybridization between Catostomus clarkii and Catostomus insignis. [6]

Notes

  1. ^ "Desert Sucker" Arizona Game & Fish
  2. ^ Pyron, Mark (1999) "Relationships between geographical range size, body size, local abundance, and habitat breadth in North American suckers and sunfishes" Journal of Biogeography 26(3): pp. 549-558, p. 557
  3. ^ Sublette et al. (1990) p. 206
  4. ^ Lee et al. (1980)
  5. ^ a b c "DFC North American Fish Index" Desert Fishes Council
  6. ^ a b c Clarkson and Minckley (1988)
  7. ^ "Desert sucker: Catostomus clarkii utahensis" Mojave Max
  8. ^ "Nevada Department of Wildlife LIP Focus Species" Nevada Department of Wildlife
  9. ^ Sublette et al. (1990)

References

External links

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