172 Series Ostariophysi 
occur in Cuba nor in any of the neighboring islands. The 
majority of the genera are restricted to the region east of the 
Rocky Mountains, although species of Catostomus, Chasmistes, 
Deltistes, Xyrauchen, and Pantosteus are found in abundance 
in the Great Basin and the Pacific slope. 
In size the suckers range from six inches in length to about 
three feet. As food-fishes they are held in low esteem, the flesh 
of all being flavorless and excessively full of small bones. Most 
of them are sluggish fishes; they inhabit all sorts of streams, 
lakes, and ponds, but even when in mountain brooks they 
gather in the eddies and places of greatest depth and least 
current. They feed on insects and small aquatic animals, 
and also on mud, taking in their food by suction. They are not 
very tenacious of life. Most of the species swarm in the spring 
in shallow waters. In the spawning season they migrate up 
smaller streams than those otherwise inhabited by them. The 
: eas 
y - 
Fie. 134.—Creekfish or Chub-sucker, Erimyzon sucetta (Lacép4de). Nipisink 
Lake, Hlinois. Family Catostomide. 
large species move from the large rivers into smaller ones; the 
small brook species go into smaller brooks. In some cases 
the males in spring develop black or red pigment on the body 
or fins, and in many cases tubercles similar to those found in 
the Cyprinide appear on the head, body, and anal and caudal 
fins. 
The buffalo-fishes and carp-suckers, constituting the genera 
Ictiobus and Carpiodes, are the largest of the Catostomide, and 
