ID this fish please.

[Rosco]

We boated a real prize on Superior last night (when I say "we", I mean Magicstik) and I need someone to ID it. It is appears to be some type of sucker but not one I have ever seen. It had a red stripe down its body and the mouth had a flange at the end and was covered with small bumps. The mouth itself was split at the base forming 2 seperate lobes. See the photo posted on the North Shore forum under Lake Superior Report.

[MagicStik]

Rosco,

Here is a closer look at its mouth. It sure looked strange.

[MagicStik]

V-Lip Redhorse maybe??? I will do some more looking.

Physical Description:
· Slightly elongate, nearly round, slightly compressed and shallowbody
· Dark scale bases
· V-shaped lower lip, inferior mouth, round snout
· Medium-sized to large eye
· Dorsal fin edge slightly concave or straight
· Tail fin with pointed tips, and equal length or almost so
· Large nuptial tubercles on anal fin and lower tail fin lobe, tiny ones elsewhere on body
· Back brown or olive-colored, silvery or coppery sides, slight brassy and green iridescence on scales
· Dorsal fin with faint red at the front part
· Tail fin red around the edge of the lobes
· Anal fin pale orange, orange-red, or white
· Lower fins orange or pale red

[tex22]

My vote is a Redhorse also. But I am not positive.

[Rosco]

Longnose Suckers have a ventrally located mouth that suits its benthic diet. The lower lip is completely cleft and both lips are covered by coarse, fleshy papillae. The snout is long and extends well beyond the upper lip. The body is covered with small scales and is elongate and cylindrical in shape.

Catostomus catostomus catostomus
Longnose sucker

Catostomus catostomus catostomus (Forster, 1773)
Family: Catostomidae (Suckers)
Order: Cypriniformes (carps)
Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)
FishBase name: Longnose sucker
Max. size: 64.0 cm TL (male/un***ed; Ref. 5723); max. published weight: 3,300 g (Ref. 28924); max. reported age: 20 years
Environment: demersal; freshwater; brackish; pH range: 6.5 - 7.8; dH range: 5 - 25 ; depth range - 180 m
Climate: temperate; 0 - 15°C; 38°N - 32°N
Importance: fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums
Resilience: Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tm=2-10; tm=20)
Distribution:
Gazetteer North America: throughout most of Canada and Alaska; Atlantic Slope south to Delaware River drainage in New York, USA; Great Lakes basin; upper Monongahela River drainage in Maryland and West Virginia, USA; Missouri River drainage south to Nebraska and Colorado, USA. Also in Arctic basin of Siberia in Russia. Occurs in Columbia River System (Molly Hallock, pers. comm.).
Morphology: Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9-11; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 7; Vertebrae: 45-47. Distinguished by the sucking mouth located on the ventral sides of the head and thick papillose lips (Ref. 27547). Gill rakers short; lateral line complete, inconspicuous; caudal tips slightly rounded (Ref. 27547). Adults may be reddish brown, dark brassy green or black above, paler on the lower sides, with the ventral parts white; young fish are usually dark gray with small black spots; breeding males are usually dark above with a brilliant reddish stripe along each side, while females are greenish gold to copper, with a less brilliant red stripe; breeding males show prominent tubercles on the rays of the anal and caudal fins and also on the head (Ref. 27547).
Biology: Found in clear, cold, deep water of lakes and tributary streams; occasionally found in brackish water in the Arctic (Ref. 5723). Moves from lakes into inlet streams or from slow, deep pools into shallow, gravel-bottomed portions of streams to spawn (Ref. 27547). Feeds on benthic invertebrates (Ref. 1998). Young are preyed upon by other fishes and fish-eating birds; while adults in spawning streams are taken by mammals, osprey and eagles (Ref. 1998). Utilized as a food fish or as dog food (Ref. 27547).
Red List Status: Not in IUCN Red List (NL) (Ref. 53964)
Dangerous: harmless

[Rosco]

ahh, so the saga continues.... I got an e-mail from fishresource.com saying that it was a White Sucker (and that they were going to include the pic on their website, woo hoo!) but my buddy, who is a fish scientist for MPCA looked at it and said it was definately a Longnose.... and one of the few he had ever seen. How's that replica comin' along DWS???

[AdamJohnson]

Right now I'm in Pittsburgh but will be home tomorrow. I will key it out then, I'm not really down with my Catostomidae, but I have a really good key book at home. Right now, I think Rosco is probably correct with the longnose sucker.

I went to school for this stuff, my degree is in aquatic biology.

[MagicStik]

Here is the response I received from the DNR:

"The fish you caught the other night on Lake Superior is a longnose sucker. The scaling pattern, with the scales crowded anteriorly, tells us that in this region it is either a white sucker or a longnose sucker. Although the nose of the longnose sucker can be longer, the picture from the bottom shows that it is not as blunt as in the white sucker. Further, the numerous smaller scales indicate that it's a longnose sucker. The white sucker would have roughly 75 or fewer scales in the lateral line, whereas this fish appears to have more as does the longnose sucker, which would have about 90 or more scales in the lateral line. That is, the scales of the white sucker would be larger than these."

DNR Natural Resource Specialist

[Rosco]

Did ya want that spoon so that you could add it to the replica mount??

[MagicStik]

Yea, that and I need a piece of drift wood too. I was thinking of maybe just doing a shoulder mount of it since you smoked the rest of it Thanks alot buddy. No wonder the previous record held for around 50 years.....a specialist has to look at the fish just to be able to tell ya what you caught!

What do ya think Rosco, next weekend we hit the big pond and fish a crawler on the bottom in 90 feet of water? I think I have a new mission in life......the state record Longnose Sucker!

MagicStik

[Rosco]

It's all in the technique!!! I 'spose it's been hard to target other species after that glorious battle huh? Maybe some salted leeches fished on slip bobber will work for ya up on Gunflint. I'd set up in maybe 25 - 30 FOW and set your bobber stop at 100'. Should be just about right. I don't have any driftwood but I might have some rotton old barnboards up at the shack. Next time I'm up I'll have a little momento for you.... something tasteful to hang in your den.

[MagicStik]

Thats ok, I have plenty of rotten barn boards at home. We aren't actually going up the gunflint. I think its the arrowhead trail but not sure. It goes north out of Hovland. You planning on joining us for a bass league event Sept 11th?

MagicStik

[Rosco]

I'm gonna try.... If the warden let's me out I'll be there!

[MagicStik]

That would be cool if you could make it. Would you have a partner to fish with? Maybe bring some smoked sucker for the cook out

MagicStik

[Rosco]

I could prob come up with a warm body but he doesn't have a whole lot of fishing experience. I suppose if I borrowed him a rod or two he'd be alright. Unless someone needs a sub...

[Rosco]

Woooops, my bad. Sept 11 won't work, wife will still be in Italy and I have to go sign my oldest up for fall B-Ball that morning....... son of a..............