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Longnose Sucker
Catostomus catostomus

There are several suckers, and the longnose sucker is the most common variety. There are also mountain suckers, largescale suckers, and bridgelip suckers in British Columbia, as well as various hybrids between all of these. Although it can be a food fish, it is not considered a game fish

What do longnose suckers look like?

Suckers are all named for their puckered mouths that look a lot like a suction cup. Suckers are bottom-feeders, and that is what their mouths are designed for. In the case of the longnose sucker, the mouth is located on the ventral side, aimed down to where the food is. The lips are round, fleshy and the lower lip is cleft in two.

Longose suckers live for several years at least, and can get fairly large - up to 30 cm and more than 3 kg. Their coloring is very drab, but during breeding time the males colour up and get a red stripe down the side. They also develop large bumps on the head, anal and caudal fins.

The other suckers look similar, but have small differences. largescale suckers have very large scales, of course. The mountain sucker has an incompletely cleft lower lip that is seperated from the upper lip by two very distinct notches. Bridgelip suckers also have an incompletely cleft lip, like the mountain sucker, but do not have the very clear notches.

Food for Thought… The sucker's mouth is designed for eating food from the bottoms of lakes, rivers and streams. What kind of food do you suppose is best found on the bottom?

Where do longnose suckers live?

Being one of the most common sucker species, longnose suckers are found all over western Canada and Eastern Siberia. The other species of suckers mentioned here are much less widespread. For instance, the mountain sucker lives only in mountain streams in south central British Columbia. Most places, if you come across a sucker, it is probably a longnose sucker.

What is the life cycle of the longnose sucker?

Longnose suckers mature between the ages of five and seven. They breed shortly after the ice melts in the spring - as soon as the water temperature hits just five degrees Celsius. Several males accompany each female. She lays thousands or even tens of thousands of very sticky, yellow eggs randomly over a gravel bottom. Eggs hatch in one to two weeks.

Did you know that … in Great Slave Lake longnose suckers can weigh up to 4.5 kg!