A Humble Fish

A nice little shot from Illinois Beach State Park yesterday:

 Longnose Suckers (Catostomus catostomus), Illinois Beach SP,
Lake Co, IL  4/21/2014

These are Longnose Suckers (Catostomus catostomus), a common species in the Great Lakes. Lake-dwelling suckers often ascend smaller streams to spawn, just as salmon do along the coasts, and that's likely what was happening here, since they were about 30 feet from the lake on a small creek, and since I generally don't see them here.

As common, widespread, fairly large fish that feed on the bottom, Longnose Suckers and their congeners, White Suckers (C. commersoni) have been commonly examined for effects of chemical pollutants, including cadmium (1), copper and zinc (2), and  wood pulp effluent (3,4). Munkittrick & Dixon have even suggested sampling sucker populations as an assay for chemical pollution. (5)

Suckers aren't sexy fish; while they are sometimes eaten, they aren't highly sought-after game species, and they're not endangered. Just a humble critter in a humble role, which just happens to make them particularly useful species.

(1) Duncan, D. A., & Klaverkamp, J. F. (1983). Tolerance and resistance to cadmium in white suckers (Catostomus commersoni) previously exposed to cadmium, mercury, zinc, or selenium. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 40(2), 128-138.

(2) Growth, fecundity, and energy stores of white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) from lakes containing elevated levels of copper and zinc. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 45(8), 1355-1365.

(3) Gagnon, M. M., Dodson, J. J., Hodson, P. V., Kraak, G. V. D., & Carey, J. H. (1994). Seasonal effects of bleached kraft mill effluent on reproductive parameters of white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) populations of the St. Maurice River, Quebec, Canada. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 51(2), 337-347.

(4) Kloepper‐Sams, P. J., Swanson, S. M., Marchant, T., Schryer, R., & Owens, J. W. (1994). Exposure of fish to biologically treated bleached‐kraft effluent. 1. Biochemical, physiological and pathological assessment of rocky mountain whitefish (prosopium williamsoni) and longnose sucker (catostomus catostomus). Environmental toxicology and chemistry, 13(9), 1469-1482.Munkittrick, K. R., & Dixon, D. G. (1988). 

(5) Munkittrick, K. R., & Dixon, D. G. (1989). Use of white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) populations to assess the health of aquatic ecosystems exposed to low-level contaminant stress. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 46(8), 1455-1462.