Species Information

Kingdom: Animalia
  Phylum: Craniata
    Class: Actinopterygii
      Order: Cypriniformes
        Family: Catostomidae
          Genus: Pantosteus
            Species: clarkii

Desert Sucker - Catostomus clarkii

Desert Sucker

Image courtesy of Biota Information System of New Mexico

340228

Species Extent (New Mexico)

General Description

Desert Sucker (Catostomus clarkii) is a medium-sized (up to 33 cm) fish that occurs in the lower Colorado River basin below the Grand Canyon, the Virgin River Basin, and in New Mexico, Arizona, and Sonora, Mexico is found in the Gila River drainage. As adults they use shady pools during the day and riffles during the night in small to medium rivers; they do not occur in reservoirs, lakes, or water with low levels of dissolved oxygen. They feed primarily by scraping algae from rocks and other substrates.

Status

Global Rank: G3G4

State Rank: S2

State Status:

Federal Status:

USFS Status:

BLM Status: BLM SENSITIVE

SWAP Status: SGCN

NMRP Strategy Status:

Observations in Natural Heritage New Mexico Database

Number of Subpopulations: 223

Number of Mapped Locations: 914

Number of Observations: 1911

Observation date range: 09-29-1908 to 11-20-2022

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