SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE OF PISHES. 



73 



fin begins in the center of the body, the ventrals are under the dorsal, the anal is 

 short and deep, and the caudal is evenly forked; lateral line distinct, more or less 

 straight. The two species inhabiting North Carolina may be readily distin- 

 guished by the number of scales. {Catostomus, inferior-mouthed.) 



42. CATOSTOMUS OOMMEBSONII (Laoep&de). 

 "Sand Sucker"; Oommon Sucker; WMte Sucker. 



Cyprinus commeraonii Lac^pfede, Histoire Naturelle des Poissons, v, 502, 1803; locality not known. 



Catostomus teres. Cope, 18706, 468, 495; "in all the rivers of the state and on both sides of the Allegheny water- 

 shed''. Jordan, 18896, 136, 151; Catawba and French Broad rivers. 



Catostomus commeraonii, Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 178, pi. xxxiv, fig. 83. Bean, 1903, 914; Cane River, tribu- 

 tary of French Broad. 



Diagnosis. — Form rather stout, but little compreseed, depth .22 to .25 of total length; 

 head large, conical, about .25 total length in adults; snout projecting but little beyond mouth; 

 mouth large, lips papillose, the papHlse of upper lip in 2 or 3 rows; scales 64 to 70 in lateral 

 series, 10 above lateral line and 9 below, crowded anteriorly, larger on side than below; dorsal 

 rays 12, second and third rays longest; anal rays 7, third and fourth rays longest. Color: 

 olivaceous above, whitish below; males in spring have a rosy band or stripe along sides; 

 young brownish, mottled, with dark lateral band or blotches. (Named after M. Commerson, 

 an early French traveler.) 



Fig. 21. White Sucker. Catostomus commersonii. 



This very abundant and well known sucker occurs from New England 

 throughout the Great Lakes to Montana and thence southward to Georgia and 

 Kansas. Dr. Jordan found it common in Catawba River near Marion, and in 

 French Broad and Swannanoa rivers near Asheville. In the French Broad it 

 is known as "sand sucker" and is a food fish of some importance. Cope lists 

 the species from French Broad, Catawba, Yadkin, and Neuse rivers. Its maxi- 

 mum length is 2 feet and its maximum weight 5 pounds. Insects, small 

 mollusks, worms, and other animals are eaten. Spawning occurs in spring in 

 the headwaters of small streams. It is not infrequently caught on the hook 

 baited with angleworm. 



