WHITE SUCKER 



Catostoiuus conimersoni (Lacepede) 



The white sucker is the most common and most abundant of the 

 suckers found in Maine. It is generally distributed in North America 

 east of the Great Plains region. This sucker is probably one of the most 

 abundant of the larger fishes in the lakes and tributary streams of Maine. 



White suckers are most easily observed during the spawning season 

 in May when unbelievable numbers migrate into streams to spawn. The 

 early trout fisherman is well aware of these spawning concentrations. 

 Spawning will also take place in the shallow margins of lakes. Male 

 suckers develop tubercles on the anal fin, on the lower part of the tail 

 fin, and on the upper sides of the paired fins. The female is usually 

 attended by more than one male. Eggs and milt are released when the 

 males press in on either side of the female. This actual spawning act 

 takes place in shallow moving water, and the fertilized eggs drop to the 

 bottom among the gravel. No nest is constructed and there is no pa- 

 rental care. Adults drop downstream following spawning to return to 

 the lakes or, if a stream resident, to the deep pools. 



Young suckers hatch after an average incubation period of three 

 weeks. These swarms of newly hatched suckers furnish the first fish food 

 of many of our game fishes. This role as a forage for other fishes is 

 played by white suckers until they become too large for other fishes to 

 swallow. 



Suckers are bottom-dwelling fishes and obtain their food by suck- 

 ing up bottom fauna and flora. The sucker-like mouth is also adapted 

 for cleaning diatoms and snails from the rocks, a feeding habit easily 

 observed in streams. 



Valuable as the white sucker is as food for our game fish they 

 become a problem once they have reached a large size. Many lakes have 

 huge populations of large suckers that cannot be utilized by other fish. 

 These large suckers take up space in our waters and compete with more 

 desirable fish for the total productivity of the water. Efforts to reduce 

 these populations by netting or trapping are useless. Chemical reclama- 

 tion in the smaller ponds has been effective in removing the sucker popu- 

 lations. 



Fishermen frequently condemn the sucker as an egg predator on 

 salmon and trout. An examination of over 100 sucker stomachs in a 

 salmon-spawning area revealed no salmon eggs. A similar study in 

 togue-spawning areas revealed an insignificent number of eggs in the 

 stomachs of the suckers, only during the peak of the spawning. 



Some idea of the size that may be attained by the white sucker can 

 be demonstrated by the 6 Vi -pound 25-inch, and 5% -pound 22-inch 

 specimens taken during the past field season by Maine fishery biologists. 



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