3i6 Roosevelt Wild Life Annals 



Food. The food of the Chub Sucker, according to Bean ('92, p. 28), c insists 

 of minute crustaceans, insect larvae and aquatic plants. Hankinson ('10, p. 30J 

 found that some Chub Suckers had fed entirely upon soil and diatoms, and others 

 upon entomostracans and Chironomus larvae. Forbes and Richardson ('09, p. 

 82) say that the Chub Sucker is a bottom feeder and has the habit of supporting 

 itself on the bottom, like the darter, by means of its paired fins. 



Distribution Records. Our collections of the Chub Sucker are the following : 

 No. 75, from Scriba Creek, one lYz and another 3 inches long, August 31, 191 5; 

 No. 87, from small brook, protectors" camp, Chittenango Creek, one i^ and 

 another 2 inches long, September 2, 1915; No. 120, from Big Bay Shoal, near 

 Belknap's Landing, one fish 2% inches long, September 7, 1915; No. 142, from 

 Frederick Creek, between the railway track and the hatchery, 3 specimens, one 

 lYz inches long, the second about 4 inches, and the third 7J4 inches long, Septem- 

 ber 8, 1915; Nos. 365, 486, 601 from fish market at Brewerton. 



Enemies and Disease. We have found little recorded on enemies of the 

 Chub Sucker. Hankinson ('08, p. 208) records the finding of one in the stomach 

 of a Large-mouthed Black Bass. Marshall and Gilbert ('05, p. 517) record a 

 few acanthocephalans from the intestine of the Chub Sucker. Wilson ('02, pp. 

 646, 709; '16, p. 339) records the parasitic copepod, Arguliis cafostomi Dana and 

 Herrick, as attached to the gill cavity, fins, and outer surface of a Chub Sucker. 

 A sporozoan, Myxobolus oblongus Gurley, was found encysted beneath the skin 

 on the head or near it (I.e., pp. loi, 234-237). All of our large market specimens 

 (Nos. 265, 486, 601) show black dots in the skin and on the fins and some speci- 

 mens are rather heavily infested. 



Economies and Angling. As a food fish this species is not of much value 

 and it is marketed with the "culls." Formerly it was marketed in New York City 

 in the late autumn. Evermann ('01, p. 341) states that "It is not much valued as 

 a food fish." Bean ('92, p. 28) remarks, "It is very tenacious of life and is a 

 ready biter, but has little value for food"; and Forbes and Richardson ('09, p. ?>2) 

 state, "This fish bites readily at a small hook, but its flesh is bony and without 

 flavor, and owing to its small size the species has no commercial value." 



References. Abbott, '90; Allen, '13; Bean, '92; Fowler, '06, '12; Gnrley, 

 '92; Evermann, '01; Forbes and Richardson, '09; Hankinson, '10, '13; Marshall 

 and Gilbert, '05; Richardson, '13; Wilson, '02, '16; Wright and Allen, '13. 



Moxostoma aureolum (LeSueur). Common Red-horse, Mullet. This 

 sucker is recorded from Oneida Lake by DeKay ('42, p. 198), who called it the 

 Oneida Sucker and considered it common there, but our only record is from a 

 market specimen said to have come from the Lake. It is reported abundant in 

 spring in the Oneida River at Brewerton ; possibly there are many in Oneida Lake. 



Breeding Habits and Life History. It breeds on riffles of streams in April 

 and May (Wright and Allen, '13, p. 4; Forbes and Richardson, '09, p. 91). 

 Young fish frequent small streams in large numbers, and it is surprising that 

 none has been taken in some of our large stream collections. Nash ('08, p. 32) 

 says: "In the early spring, as soon as the ice moves out, the Mullet run up the 

 streams to spawn, forcing their way through the swiftest torrents in order to 

 reach the gravelly beds upon which the ova are deposited. After spawning they 



