FAMILY CATOSTOMIDAE 127 



rather common in the Lower Mississippi River and its smaller tribu- 

 taries in the southern part of the state. They have been taken in the 

 Red Cedar River in Iowa, near the Minnesota line (Surber, 1920) . 

 Greene (1935) found them in the Mississippi and lower Wisconsin 

 rivers in southern Wisconsin. Most of the specimens in the university 

 collections are from the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers. 



GENUS Cycleptus Rafinesque 



This genus differs from the three preceding genera, Megastomatohus, 

 Ictiobiis, and Carpiodes, which are the only other North American 

 genera having a long dorsal fin, in having the soft spot, or fontanelle, 

 in the head obliterated, and in the slender body and rather small 

 head. The genus Cycleptus contains only one species, restricted in its 

 range to the Mississippi Valley. 



BLUE SUCKER (Missouri Sucker, Gourdseed Sucker, 

 Blackhorse, Sweet Sucker) 



Cycleptus elongatus (LeSueur) 



The body of the blue, or Missouri, sucker (Figure 16) is elongate and 

 only slightly compressed. The color ranges from dusky to bluish black. 

 The head is very small and slender, tapering to a fleshy snout with a 

 bluntly pointed muzzle. The mouth is inferior. The protractile lips are 

 rather thick and are directed downward. Each Hp has five or six rows of 

 tuberclelike papillae. The lower lip is incised behind. The long dorsal 

 fin is elevated anteriorly and has from 30 to 32 rays. The anal fin has 

 7 or 8 rays. The scales are rather small and number 55-58 in the lateral 

 line. This fish reaches a length of over 2 feet. 



The Missouri sucker ranges from southern jNIinnesota and Wiscon- 

 sin southward into Tennessee and northeastern Mexico, and possibly 



Figure 16. Blue sucker, Cycleptus elongatus, 25 inches long. 



