The largescale sucker (''Catostomus macrocheilus'') is a species of sucker, a type of freshwater fish, found in western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Description

It has a rounded snout with a downturned mouth on its underside (as opposed to a mouth at end of the head like most fish). It has large

scales Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number ...

and narrow tail base (caudal peduncle). Juveniles are under in length. Adults can reach a length of and in parts of their range. Juveniles are mottled brown or olive green with dark spots and white to yellow belly. Adults are bronze to orange on top with lighter undersides.

Distribution and habitat

The largescale sucker is native to the Pacific Northwest, occurring from

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

south to

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. It is widespread in the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

system. It occurs in the slower-moving portions of rivers and streams, and in lakes.

Biology

Largescale suckers spawn in the spring in shallow water over sandy areas of streams or the sandy or small gravel

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and Earth science, geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank (geography), bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body ...

s of lakes. Females may produce up to 20,000 adhesive eggs. The young feed upon small

zooplankton Zooplankton are the heterotrophic component of the planktonic community (the " zoo-" prefix comes from ), having to consume other organisms to thrive. Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents. Consequent ...

until they become bottom dwellers. Then they feed on

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...

aquatic invertebrates,

diatom A diatom (Neo-Latin ''diatoma'') is any member of a large group comprising several Genus, genera of algae, specifically microalgae, found in the oceans, waterways and soils of the world. Living diatoms make up a significant portion of Earth's B ...

s, and other plant material. They are an important part of the food web and the diet of fish-eating animals (such as

osprey The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It ...

, eagles, river otters, and other fish).

Angling and relationship with humans

Largescale suckers, and rough fish in general, have been used as scapegoats for human impacts on fisheries. Ignorance about suckers is widespread and many anglers in the Pacific Northwest kill them because they mistakenly believe them to have a negative impact on salmon and trout stocks. The International Game Fish Association all tackle world record stands at caught in Grand View, Idaho. However the

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

state record sits at and a fish stands as the catch and release record. The Idaho state record was caught in 2017 from Lake Cascade while ice fishing.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2217791 Catostomus Fish of North America Taxa named by Charles Frédéric Girard Fish described in 1856