456 COLLEGE ZOOLOGY 



Family i. CYPRINID^E. The Carp, Minnows, and Suckers. 



Subfamily CATOSTOMIN^:.' The Suckers. Most of the 

 suckers are inhabitants of the fresh waters of North America; 

 two of the seventy or more species occur in Asia. Their mouths 

 are usually very protractile and possess fleshy lips. They feed 

 on the bottom, eating vegetation, worms, insect larvae, and other 

 soft-bodied animals. In the spring suckers swim upstream 

 to spawn. The sucker is barely edible, but is nevertheless an 

 important commercial fish.- The common or white sucker, 



FIG. 385. The common sucker, Catostomus commersoni. (From Jordan 

 and Evermann.) 



Catostomus commersoni (Fig. 385), is very widely distributed. 

 This subfamily includes, besides the suckers, the red-horses, 

 buffaloes, quillbacks, and fresh-water mullets. 



Subfamily CYPRININ^:. There are about two hundred 

 genera and a thousand species of fishes belonging to this sub- 

 family. About two hundred and twenty- five species occur in the 

 United States. They are mostly small, but should not be mis- 

 taken for young fish on that account. The chubs, hornyheads, 

 fall- fish, and squaw fish are common in various parts of the 

 country. The German carp (Fig. 386) was introduced into 

 North America in 1872, and is now firmly established in our 

 waters. It will live in muddy ponds and streams, is prolific, 

 grows rapidly, and is edible, although not very good. Since its 

 introduction it has been accused of driving away other fishes, of 



