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

Catostomidae The Catostomidae are the suckers of the order (biology), order Cypriniformes, with about 78 species in this family (biology), family of freshwater fishes. The Catostomidae are almost exclusively native to North America. The only exceptions are ' ...

found in the upper

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

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 temperatur ...

areas of 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 ...

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 in length. Relatively elongate for a sucker, the

back The human back, also called the dorsum (: dorsa), 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 c ...

area between the head and

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 ...

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 * Papilla (worms), small bumps on the surface of certain worms * Basilar papilla, a sensory organ of lizards, amphibians and fish * ...

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 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 o ...

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

. 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 or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

, 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 Universi ...

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 Sa ...

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 (ecology), endemic to Utah Lake and the Provo River in the U.S. state of Utah. It is named after the month in which it Spawn (biology), spawns. It is a gray or brown ...

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

References

* Ira La Rivers, ''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 Endemic fish 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 Taxa named by David Starr Jordan Taxa named by Charles Henry Gilbert