CATOSTOMUS WARNERENSIS WARNER SUCKERTHREATENED DESCRIPTION SUCKERS ARE

Scientific Name

Catostomus warnerensis

Warner Sucker-Threatened

Description:

Suckers are fresh water fish with a downward facing sucking mouth. The Warner sucker reachs maturity at three to four years of age, when approximately 130-160 mm (5-6 in) in length. Research has indicated that larvae and young juveniles resist drifting downstream from natal spawning areas. It is unclear how long juveniles remain in natal spawning areas, but stream residences may be prolonged due to dams which block migratory passages to lakes.

Habitat:

Some Warner suckers are year-round stream residents, found in low gradient flows or pools. They are also found in lake environments in shallow waters. Range expansion of lake habitat north of Hart Lake temporarily occurs during years of high precipitation. Since fluctuations in precipitation routinely desiccate and fill lakes in the valley roughly every thirty years, streams are considered the most dependable and critical habitat for persistence of Warner suckers

Range:

The current range of Warner suckers is in Twelvemile, Twentymile, and Honey Creeks, and their associated tributaries as well as in remnant lakes of the valley.

Breeding:

The Warner sucker uses low to moderate gradient stream reaches for spawning and rearing purposes. Historic records indicate that large spawning runs of suckers would ascend tributary streams in the spring.

Diet:

In streams, larvae drift feed on zooplankton near the water’s surface then switch to foraging on algae and associated benthic food items when two months old. Adults are bottom feeders.

Conservation Status:

Introductions of piscivorous game fishes such as brown bullhead, largemouth bass, white and black crappie, into lakes and modifications of stream habitat that restrict fish migrations.

References:

Coombs, C.I., C.E. Bond, and S.F. Drohan. 1979. Spawning and early life history of the Warner sucker (Catostomus warnerensis). Unpubl. report to U.S. Fish & Wild life Service, Sacramento.

Hubbs, C.L. & R.R. Miller. 1948. The zoological evidence: correlation between fish distribution and hydrographic history in the desert basins of western United States, pp. 17-166. In: The Great Basin with emphasis on glacial and postglacial times. Bull. Univ. Utah Vol. 30.

Kennedy, T.B. & M. Olsen. 1994. Drift ecology of Warner sucker larvae (Catostomus warnerensis) and lake recolonization by native and exotic fishes of the Warner Valley, Oregon. The Oregon Natural Heritage Program, The Nature Conservancy.

Snyder, C.T., G. Hardman, and F.F. Zdenek. 1964. Pleistocene lakes of the Great Basin. U.S. Geological Survey Misc. Geologic Investigations Map I-416.

Snyder, J.O. 1908. Relationships of the fish fauna of the lakes of southeastern Oregon. Bull. Bureau Fisheries 27 (1907):69-102.

Tait, C.K., and E.J. Mulkey. 1993. Estimation of stream-resident Warner sucker abundance and total habitat area in two basins using a statistically valid sampling design. The Oregon Natural Heritage Program, The Nature Conservancy.

White, R., T. Hoitsma, M.A. Stern, & A.V. Munhall. 1990. Final report on investigations of the range and status of the Warner sucker, Catostomus warnerensis, during spring and summer 1990. Submitted to: U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Williams, J.E., J.E. Johnson, D.A. Hendrickson, S. Contreras-Balderas, J.D. Williams, M. Navarro-Mendoza, D.E. McAllister, and J.E. Deacon. 1989. Fishes of North America endangered, threatened, or of special concern: 1989. Fisheries (Bethesda). 14 (6):2-20.

Tags: catostomus warnerensis, sucker, catostomus, catostomus, description, warner, suckerthreatened, suckers, warnerensis