''Phenacobius'', the suckermouth

minnow Minnow is the common name for a number of species of small freshwater fish, belonging to several genus, genera of the family Cyprinidae and in particular the subfamily Leuciscinae. They are also known in Ireland as wikt:pinkeen, pinkeens. While ...

s, is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Leuciscidae Leuciscidae is a family of freshwater ray-finned fishes, formerly classified as a subfamily of the Cyprinidae, which contains the true minnows. Members of the Old World (OW) clade of minnows within this subfamily are known as European minnow ...

, the shiners, daces and minnows. The fishes in this genus are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Historically the suckermouth minnow was not found as far eastward as Ohio, now they seem to be a stable species living throughout the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

and parts of southern states such as

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, and

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. Many forests and prairies were cleared out to make farmland, this caused for drainage streams and rivers to take form, moving the minnows eastward. Originally the suckermouth minnows probably never crossed the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

prior to the developed farm land. They have a lifespan of roughly 3–5 years, but is hard to measure due to predation, survival rate of about 50 percent. There are currently five described species.

Etymologically Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

, "phenacobius" means "deceptive life", possibly because these species eat insects despite an

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat n ...

appearance.

Species

''Phenacobius'' contains the following species: * '' Phenacobius catostomus'' D. S. Jordan, 1877 (Riffle minnow) * '' Phenacobius crassilabrum'' W. L. Minckley & Craddock, 1962 (Fatlips minnow) * '' Phenacobius mirabilis'' ( Girard, 1856) (Suckermouth minnow) * '' Phenacobius teretulus''

Cope A cope ( ("rain coat") or ("cape")) is a liturgical long mantle or cloak, open at the front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colour. A cope may be worn by any rank of the Catholic or Anglican clerg ...

, 1867 (Kanawha minnow) * '' Phenacobius uranops''

, 1867 (Stargazing minnow)

Description

Suckermouth minnows have a mouth that ends right below the tip of their snout (sub-terminal mouth), appearing like a small sucker and giving them the name suckermouth minnow. These minnows have five fins used for swimming, the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

which is located on the top of the fish, the anal fin located on the bottom of the fish towards the back by the tail, right in front of the anal fin is the pelvic fin, the

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

is located on both sides of the fish, and finally the

caudal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

or also known the tail. Suckermouth minnows have a long narrow black line that stretches down the side of the minnow ending at a dark spot near the base of the tail. Right above this black line is a narrow gold line running the same length as the black line and ending at the base of the tail, near the black spot. This fish uses

countershading Countershading, or Thayer's law, is a method of camouflage in which animal coloration, an animal's coloration is darker on the top or upper side and lighter on the underside of the body. This pattern is found in many species of mammals, reptile ...

, on top of the minnow they are shaded a darker gray and on their belly they are shaded light cream to white. Around the gold and black lines on the sides of the minnow they are shaded a silvery or light brown.

Length and weight

Like any typical member of the family Cyprinidae, they are usually 2–4 inches long and can reach 5 inches in length.

Reproduction

Suckermouth minnows

spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawning, 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: Armageddon' ...

in groups in late spring or early summer. Once the female lays her 200 to 500 eggs there seems to be no parental care. The water temperature during spawning periods is between 14 and 25 degrees Celsius. The

mating system A mating system is a way in which a group is structured in relation to sexual behaviour. The precise meaning depends upon the context. With respect to animals, the term describes which males and females mating, mate under which circumstances. Reco ...

that these minnows use is polygynandrous (

promiscuous Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous by man ...

), they mate with many females and males to reassure reproductive success. There are a few that have been said to pair mate but male testes are said to be larger in group spawning, suggesting group spawning or polygynandrous is the main mating system. Sexual size dimorphism varies among these two mating systems. Since most of the female suckermouths mate with many males and are

iteroparous Semelparity and iteroparity are two contrasting reproductive strategies available to living organisms. A species is considered ''semelparous'' if it is characterized by a single reproduction, reproductive episode before death, and ''iteroparous ...

, she lays small batches of eggs throughout her spawning period, probably to allow greater survivorship among developing embryos.

Food habitat

Suckermouth minnows are primarily

carnivores A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose nutrition and energy requirements are met by consumption of animal tissues (mainly mu ...

and herbivores eating eggs, fish (

piscivore A piscivore () is a carnivorous animal that primarily eats fish. Fish were the diet of early tetrapod evolution (via water-bound amphibians during the Devonian period); insectivory came next; then in time, the more terrestrially adapted repti ...

), insects and algae."Phenacobius Mirabilis (Suckermouth Minnow)." Animal Diversity Web. Web. 05 May 2016

Fishing

Due to the suckermouth minnows being prey to green sunfish, yellow perch, and brown trout, they are commonly used for bait by fishermen.

References

{{Authority control Pogonichthyinae Fauna of the Plains-Midwest (United States) Fish of North America Fish of the United States Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope Taxonomy articles created by Polbot