White sucker

There are roughly 65 species of suckers in the Catostomidae family of freshwater fish, the majority of which are found in North America. With species ranging in size from tiny (approximately 15 cm) to large (up to 45 cm), they are all quite strong or thick fishes. Almost all species in the family have the distinctive "sucker" mouth that points downward.

The simplest way to characterise the White Sucker's body is as torpedo shaped. It has a wide, rounded head with a large, sucker-like mouth that faces downward. Its cylindrical body is coated with huge, noticeable scales. It has thick rays inside all of its wide fins. The tail is wide and very slightly forked. Over their range in North America, adult fish exhibit significant colour variation. They are typically creamy white on the belly and light brown, grey, or coppery on the top in Manitoba.

Fish having a downturned snout like other suckers, white suckers are bottom feeders. They have a round mouth with thick lips around it. They have a sleek body possessing a flat dorsal fin and a powerfully indented tail fin. White suckers often have an olive-colored top and a cream-colored bottom. They will get darker as they are spawning. When runs of up to thousands of fish climb tiny streams in the spring, spawning takes place at a temperature of 10°C. Females lay between 20,000 and 50,000 eggs on a gravel substrate and they may reach lengths of around 50 centimeters and weights of 2 kilograms.