FOREST, LAKE, AND RIVER 



There is a very common sucker that never is 

 found south of latitude 40°, and while it is abun- 

 dant in the Great Lake region, it may not be 

 found in New England waters, other than Lake 

 Champlain. It is locally and variously called the 

 long-nosed sucker, northern sucker, and red sucker, 

 and is the Catostomus catostomus of the specialists, 

 both names being from the Greek, and signifying 

 " inferior " or underneath, and " mouth," in refer- 

 ence to the situation of the latter. Its lips are 

 thick and covered with knob-like excrescences or 

 tubercles ; the upper lip is narrow, with two to 

 three rows of tubercles, and the lower is deeply 

 incised, and the eyes are small and situated behind 

 the middle of the head. In the spring of the 

 year, the heads of the males are covered with 

 small tubercles, and a broad rosy band appears on 

 the sides. 



What is known as the " common sucker " is 

 very generally diffused throughout New England 

 and Canada. Its vernacular names are white 

 sucker, brook sucker, and fine-scaled sucker, and 

 its technical name is Catostomus commersonii, the 

 specific from Philebert Commerson, an early and 

 able French naturalist. It seldom grows longer 

 than eighteen inches, and abounds in the streams 

 and ponds, from Quebec south to Georgia, and 

 224 



