186 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
In the river as a whole the report is general that white carp and quillback are 
present in undiminished abundance; one might almost say that there is general 
complaint of excessive abundance, since fishermen would prefer that there should be 
a relatively higher degree of abundance of the more esteemed fishes, such as buffalo 
fishes, catfishes, sturgeon, and paddlefish. 
Other suckers 
The only examples of the spotted sucker or striped sucker, Minytrema melanops 
(Rafinesque), that were seen by Stringham near Keokuk were a female of 37 centi- 
meters (15 inches) total length and a male of 36 centimeters taken in 1916 on April 18 
and April 20, respectively. Both were captured in fyke nets placed in the river oppo- 
site Keokuk. They were approaching sexual maturity, the eggs being 1.3 millimeters 
in diameter. 
But two specimens of the common sucker or fine-scaled sucker, Catostomus com- 
mersonii (Lac6pede), were observed at Keokuk, and these were taken in the same 
place and way as the spotted suckers just mentioned, but on earlier dates, March 18 
and 23. Each contained eggs 1.4 millimeters in diameter. 
Stringham has single records for the hog sucker, Hypentelium nigricans Le 
Sueur, taken, as reported, on April 21, 1915, in a trammel net near the Illinois shore a 
little below Warsaw; and the white-nose sucker, Moxostoma anisurum (Rafinesque), 
found in the market of Warsaw on April 21, 1916. 
The common red horse or “Des Moines plunger,” Moxostoma aureolum (Le 
Sueur), is taken occasionally about Keokuk, particularly in the Des Moines River. 
Forbes and Richardson (1908) speak of its avoidance of turbid waters and mud 
bottoms and its preference for swiftly flowing streams. It is said to breed in April 
and May in this latitude, ascending the smaller streams and spawning on riffles. 
(See Hankinson, 1919, and references there cited.) The species is apparently not 
well adapted to the Mississippi River. As a food fish it is perhaps one of the best of 
the suckers. 
A female from the Mississippi examined on May 1, 1915, had a total length of 
16 inches and contained eggs 2.3 millimeters in diameter. Another example from the 
Mississippi, examined April 19, 1916, contained 2 cubic centimeters of food materials 
consisting of dipteran larvae and pupae (Simulium, 30 per cent), caddis-fly larvae 
(Hydropsyche, 10 per cent), May-fly nymphs (Heptagenia, 40 per cent), dragon-fly 
larvae) Gomphus, 5 per cent), and debris (15 per cent). The material was determined 
by Dr. R. A. Muttkowski. 
The short-head red horse, Moxostoma breviceps (Cope), according to Forbes and 
Richardson (1908), has a more general distribution than the preceding species and 
shows a less marked preference for clear and swiftly flowing waters. At Keokuk, 
where the fish is called simply “red horse,” it is taken in substantial numbers during 
the spring but very little at other seasons. The fish are captured chiefly in fyke nets 
placed among the willows on the Illinois side, but some are caught in trammel nets. 
Examples were seen in each month from January to October (except August). 
In both years of observation spawning occurred during the latter half of April. 
Several observed on May 1 were spent fish. The eggs of mature fish 15% and 20% 
inches, respectively, in length measured 1.8 and 2.1 millimeters in diameter. Other 
observations of fish, mature or nearly so, revealed eggs of various diameters from 1.4 
to 2.2 millimeters. 
