Fishes of Canada's National Capital Region

Species Accounts

Catostomidae - Suckers - Catostomes

Suckers, redhorses, buffalofishes and carpsuckers are found in freshwaters of North America with 1 species in the Yangtse Kiang of China and 1 North American species also in northeastern Siberia. There are 68 species with 18 species and 1 subspecies in Canada, and 7 species in the NCR. The record of Erimyzon sucetta (Lacepède 1803) in the NCR by Small (1883) is an error. Suckers are mostly small to medium-sized fishes with a maximum length of 1.0 m.

The family is characterised by the fleshy lips which are variously folded (plicae) or bumpy (papillae), the broad lower lip often has a cleft, the mouth is ventral, sucking and highly protrusible, no jaw teeth, pharyngeal or throat teeth in a single row of 16 or more teeth, up to as many as 190, which grind food against a horny pad at the base of the basioccipital bone as in the Carp Family, barbels and an adipose fin are absent, 10 or more dorsal fin rays, no fin spines, the anal fin is placed far back on the body, scales are cycloid, the upper jaw is bordered by the premaxilla and maxilla bones, there are y-shaped intermuscular bones, the swimbladder has 2-3 chambers and is connected to the gut, and pelvic fins are on the belly (abdominal). Suckers are tetraploids, having two sets of chromosomes numbering around 100.

Suckers are related to the Carp Family. The redhorses (genus Moxostoma) are difficult to identify and require some practice. The redhorses have a swimbladder with 3 chambers while other suckers, such as those in the genus Catostomus, have 2 chambers. Fin ray counts used in identification are the principal, elongate rays. Rudimentary rays, usually 2-4, at the beginning of each fin are not included.

Most suckers are bottom-feeders, grubbing through detritus for food by touch and taste. There are two basic body forms, a heavy, deep-bodied one and a more rounded, stream-lined form. The former are found in large slow rivers and lakes and the latter in faster streams. Young are often plankton feeders with mouths at the tip of the snout. The mouth migrates ventrally with growth and diet switches to bottom foods. Mollusc feeders have heavy, molar-shaped teeth while those feeding on aquatic insects and crustaceans have thin, sharp-edged teeth. Suckers have brightened colours during the spawning season and develop nuptial tubercles. Hybrids are common among suckers. They are not generally eaten in Canada but can be quite tasty, and are of only minor interest to anglers, perhaps unjustly so. However they are very important forage species, fed on by a variety of sport fishes.

The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources publishes a print and on-line "Guide to Eating Ontario Sport Fish" (www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/) and has advisory limits for eating redhorse suckers in the Mississippi River, South Nation River and Ottawa River. As these limits are apt to change, anglers consuming this fish should consult the most recent version.

Quillback / Couette
Carpiodes cyprinus (Lesueur, 1817)

Taxonomy

Other common names include Carpsucker, Lake Quillback, Eastern Quillback, Long-finned Sucker, Broad Mullet, White Carp, Silvery Carp, Drum, Plains Carpsucker, Brême and Poisson à couette.

Key Characters

The Quillback is recognised by the long dorsal fin with 22-32 major rays which has the anterior rays elongated into a high, sickle-shape.

Description

The longest dorsal fin ray is 4-6 times the length of the shortest. The small mouth is overhung by the snout. The caudal fin is deeply forked. The lips have transverse plicae and the lower lip halves meet at an acute angle and have no knob at the tip. Pharyngeal teeth are thin, small and comb-like with pointed tips. The gut is elongate with 6-9 loops. Gill rakers slender, 25-44. Major anal fin rays 6-9, pectoral rays 15-16 and pelvic rays 8-10. Lateral line scales 33-42. Males have nuptial tubercles on the side of the head below the top of the eye level, on top of the head, on the underside of the head to the anterior branchiostegals and on the first dorsal fin ray, first 11 pectoral rays and 8 pelvic rays. Anal and caudal fins are tuberculate in some males. There are up to 18 tubercles per scale on the 3-4 rows above and below the lateral line. There may even be tubercles on the cornea, completely surrounding the pupil. Females may have fewer tubercles than males.

Colour

The back and upper flank are olive to dark or light brown or tan, the flanks are silvery often with a golden yellow tinge, and the belly cream to white. Scales have silver, green or blue reflections. The eye is silvery. The upper fins are dusky, lower fins more transparent, sometimes with basal orange or yellow tinges and a white leading edge. The anterior edge and dorsal margin of the dorsal fin are black. The snout tip and lips are often a milky-white.

Size

Reaches 66.0 cm and 5.4 kg. The world, all-tackle angling record from Lake Michigan, Indiana weighed 2.94 kg and was caught in 1993.

Distribution

Found in the St. Lawrence River around Montréal, Ottawa River up to Ottawa, Richelieu River, Lake Champlain, lakes Erie and Huron and Georgian Bay, Lake of the Woods, central and southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. In the U.S.A. south to Louisiana and west to the Florida Panhandle, west of the Appalachian Mountains and south to Virginia east of these mountains from Pennsylvania.

Origin

This species entered the NCR from an Atlantic coastal refugium or possibly a Mississippian refugium (Mandrak and Crossman, 1992).

Habitat

The Quillback is found in clear and turbid waters of rivers and lakes tolerating warm temperatures as high as 29-31°C although generally its preferred temperature is 22.1°C. Slower water is favoured with sand and silt substrates.

Age and Growth

Life span is 46 years for females and 52 years for males. Maturity is attained at 6-8 years for females at a minimum fork length of 34.5 cm and 4-6 years for males at a minimum fork length of 28.0 cm.

Food

Food is bottom fauna such as aquatic insects, crustaceans and molluscs, macrophytes and any organic matter in bottom sediments.

Reproduction

An upstream spawning migration in the Ochre River, Manitoba takes place once water temperatures reach 5°C but only when discharges are high. Spawning occurs in streams, flooded areas or bays of lakes in April to July, perhaps later to September. Water temperatures are 7-18°C in Manitoba, 19-28°C in other studies. Eggs are broadcast over gravel in riffles or over sand and even mud, and number up to 360,000 per female.

Importance

This sucker is of minor commercial importance in U.S.A. where it is caught with gill nets, and has white, tasty flesh. Anglers catch them in the U.S.A. by using dough balls, bread, worms and grubs as bait or by snagging.

Longnose Sucker / Meunier rouge
Catostomus catostomus (Forster, 1773)

Taxonomy

Other common names include Sturgeon, Sturgeon-nosed Sucker, Northern, Finescale, Red, Black or Red-sided Sucker, Carpe-soldat, Carpe rouge, Milugiak, Nannilik, Miluiak and Miluqiaq.

Key Characters

This species is identified by having 9-11 principal dorsal fin rays, 91-120 scales in a complete lateral line, no membranous stays between the pelvic fins and the body, and the lower lip is completely cleft in the mid-line.

Description

Scales between dorsal fin origin and lateral line usually16-18. Anal fin principal rays 7, pectoral rays 16-18 and pelvic rays 9-11. Gill rakers short, numbering 23-30. Breeding males have nuptial tubercles on the head, anal fin and lower caudal fin lobe.

Colour

The back is dark olive, brown, grey or black fading to a cream or white belly. The scales are outlined with dark pigment on the back and upper flank. Both sexes have a head and mid-flank pink to red stripe bordered below by black and abruptly set off from the light belly when breeding, and males have a black back, females a gold to copper-brown back. The underside of the head is yellow to orange in both sexes and the belly pinkish. Fins are similar to the adjacent body. Peritoneum dusky black. Young may have 3 black blotches on the flank, sometimes forming saddles over the back, but this not as obvious or common as in the White Sucker.

Size

Reaches 64.2 cm and 3.31 kg for a specimen from Great Slave Lake. The world, all-tackle angling record weighed 2.86 kg and was caught in the St. Joseph River, Michigan in 1986.

Distribution

Found from Labrador and New Brunswick to British Columbia, Alaska and into eastern Siberia. Absent from Nova Scotia and the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic islands of Canada. In the U.S.A. in states close to the Canadian border and south to Idaho and to West Virginia. This species is not confirmed by specimens from the NCR deposited in a museum, although the species is widely distributed in Québec and Ontario. The record is based on a report by a local resident (J. C. McCuaig, Secretary-treasurer of the Fish and Game Protective Association for the counties of Gatineau, Hull, Papineau and Pontiac) and recorded in Dymond (1939) as from Lac Deschênes in the Ottawa River. Provost et al. (1996) also record it from the Ottawa River at various sites within the NCR. A fossil of Quaternary age (ca. 10,000 years ago) identified as this species has been found in a clay nodule from Hiawatha Park in the NCR (Harington, 1983; McAllister et al., 1987).

Origin

This species entered the NCR from possibly an Atlantic, Beringian or Missourian refugium (Mandrak and Crossman, 1992).

Habitat

This sucker is common in clear northern waters of rivers and lakes but is restricted to cool areas in the south such as deep lakes, as deep as 183 m in Lake Superior. Its preferred temperature is 8-17°C.

Age and Growth

Life span is about 24 years. Females live longer and grow larger than males. Maturity is attained at 2-10 years. There is a wide range in growth and in maturity patterns, reflecting the broad distribution of this species and the various habitats. Growth tends to be slower and life span longer in the north. However growth in Great Slave Lake is faster than in smaller, southern lakes. Some populations are dwarfed.

Food

Food is crustaceans, aquatic insects, clams, worms, and plant material. Algae may comprise up to 95.5% of gut contents in medium-sized suckers of the Matamek River, Québec and consume about 2% of the annual periphyton production in the river. Once regarded as an egg predator of sport fish, this is now discounted. It is commonly eaten by other fishes, birds, bears and other mammals.

Reproduction

Spawning takes place in streams or lake shallows once water temperatures exceed 5°C. This is usually April-July in Canada and the spawning run peaks several days before that of White Suckers. The spawning process may only extend over 5 days. Males remain on the spawning grounds longer than females. Most fish migrate in the evening but spawning on gravel bottoms occurs during the day. The males occupy faster water near the stream middle, females slower water at the edge. A female approaches the males and is flanked by 2-4 of them. Eggs and sperm are shed as males clasp the female with their pelvic fins or vibrate against her with the anal fin. Each thrashing and splashing spawning act lasts only 3-5 seconds but is repeated up to 40 times an hour. The eggs are white and adhere to the gravel. Each female may have up to 60,000, 3.0 mm diameter eggs in her ovaries. Fry emerge from the gravel after 1-2 weeks and when 1.0-1.2 cm total length start to migrate downstream during nights.

Importance

This species has been used for food for humans and dogs. The flesh is good eating, being white and flaky. It is excellent smoked. Great Lakes catches are sold as "mullet" with other suckers.

White Sucker / Meunier noir
Catostomus commersonii (Lacepède, 1803)

Taxonomy

Other common names include Common, Common Brook, Coarse Scaled, Fine Scaled, June, Eastern, Mud, Slender, Grey or Black Sucker, Black Whitehorse, Mullet, Carp, Carpe noir and Catostome commun noir.

Key Characters

This species is recognised by having 53-85 (usually 58-68) scales in a complete lateral line, 9-14 principal dorsal fin rays, a completely cleft lower lip which is wider than deep, and no membrane connecting the pelvic fins to the body.

Description

There are 8-11 scales between the dorsal fin origin and lateral line. Principal anal rays 6-8, pectoral rays 15-18 and pelvic rays 10-11. Gill rakers short and numbering 20-27. The numerous pharyngeal teeth are comb-like except the lower 5 which have wide crowns. Males have large nuptial tubercles on the anal fin, lower caudal fin and the caudal peduncle. The tubercles follow the fin rays and may branch with them with up to 4 rows on lower caudal rays. Smaller tubercles are found on the head and belly, number 1-3 on the rear margin of back and upper flank scales and line the rays of the dorsal and pelvic fins.

Colour

The back and upper flanks are grey, dusky olive, brassy, brown or almost black, flanks are greenish-yellow to brassy and the lower flank and belly are creamy to white. Scales on the upper flank and back are outlined with pigment. The anal fin is white and other fins are dusky. Pectoral, pelvic and anal fins may have an orange tinge and the pectoral and pelvic fins may have a white leading edge. Spawning fish are more golden on the flank and darker on the back. Males have a pink to scarlet or blackish lateral stripe. Young fish have 3-4 obvious blotches along the flank. Peritoneum pale. Faber (1984c) illustrates a larva.

Size

Reaches 76.0 cm total length, and reputedly 17.5 kg. The world, all-tackle angling record weighed 2.94 kg and was caught in the Rainy River, Minnesota in 1984. A fish from Lake Joseph, Ontario weighed 2.5 kg.

Distribution

Found across Canada; absent only from Newfoundland, P.E.I., Gaspé, the margins of Labrador, the N.W.T. (except for the prairie border area and the Great Slave and Mackenzie River basins), absent from most of the Yukon and from southern and western British Columbia. In the U.S.A. south to Georgia and New Mexico.

Origin

This species entered the NCR from possibly a Mississippian, Missourian or an Atlantic coastal refugium.

Habitat

White Suckers are found in large rivers, and in shallows of lakes, but may descend to about 50 m, and in rivers and streams tributary to lakes. There is usually some vegetation, and the bottom is mud although boulders or sand forms part of the habitat. These suckers are very tolerant of polluted and muddy waters. Their preferred temperature is 22.4°C.

Age and Growth

Maximum life span is about 25 years. Fish in the Gatineau River, just north of the NCR, live over 10 years and generally grow faster in the lower reaches of this river (Gagnon et al., 1995; Couillard et al., 1995; Couillard and Hodson, 1996). Maturity in the Gatineau varied between 4-6 years, later above Maniwaki than below, suggesting a richer environment lower down this river. Pectoral fin ray sections are used in aging White Suckers as scales give underestimates of age. Annual mortality in the Laurentides, Québec is 90% for 7 year old and older fish. Females grow faster, live longer and are larger than males. Sexual maturity is reached at 2-9 years, varying with locality across Canada and sex (males mature 1 year younger than females; in Saskatchewan males matured at 6-7, and females at 6-9; in Alberta at 2 and 3 years respectively, although first spawning was at 5 and 6 years). A dwarf or stunted population near Chicoutimi, Québec matured at 2-3 years and had an 8 year life span. Dwarf populations are known to co-exist with normal sized suckers but in one case at least these are large females and small males, the size difference compounded by a higher rate of male mortality.

Food

Food is aquatic insects, crustaceans, molluscs, some phytoplankton and sometimes eggs of other fishes although they are not now considered to be a major predator on sport fishes. Water fleas are often a major diet component. Young suckers feed on plankton until about 1.8 cm long when the mouth moves to a ventral position and bottom feeding is adopted. Most feeding occurs at dawn and dusk. These suckers are very numerous and an important food for a wide variety of sport and other fishes, birds and even bears.

Reproduction

Spawning occurs usually in May to July in Canada after a migration into gravelly streams or lake margins at 10°C or warmer. In a stream tributary to Lac Philippe, Gatineau Park water temperature was 8.5°C on 14 April 1986 and no fish were seen but by 18 April the temperature was 13°C in an unusually warm spring and a run occurred (Coad, 1988). In previous years fish were observed concentrating in pools at precisely 10°C in early May. The fish swim up a concrete drainage slope into a culvert, with their bodies mostly out of the water which is flowing at 2 m/sec. Lake spawners may clean the gravel before spawning. Spawning in a quarry next to the Canadian Museum of Nature building on Pink Road, Gatineau occurs in the first half of May (personal observations, 1998 and succeeding years). Ospreys may take these fish when spawning as one osprey was observed in the area with a large fish in its talons and the spawning fish were nowhere to be seen (5 May 2004, personal observations, Michel Gosselin, pers. comm.). Males arrive on the spawning ground 2-3 days before females. Most eggs are shed at night with much splashing in the shallow water of riffles. The quarry fish can be observed spawning in daylight, with their bodies partly out of the water at the quarry's edge. Each female is pressed against by 1-10 males, using their tuberculate anal and caudal fins. The dorsal fin is held erect, pectoral fins are spread, the tail lashes the water and the head is shaken. Usually the female is flanked by a male on each side. Spawning only takes 1.5-4 seconds but occurs 6-40 times an hour and the season lasts up to about 2 weeks. Each female can carry up to 139,000 yellow eggs with a diameter up to 3.0 mm. Eggs hatch in 1-2 weeks depending on temperature, larvae are 8.0-9.0 mm long and the fry migrate to the lake after spending 1-2 weeks hiding in the gravel. There is an estimated spawning mortality of 16-47% depending on the population and its predators. Females do not spawn every year but the frequency of spawning increases with age. Males are 3 times as likely to spawn in a given year than females. Nuptial tubercles are lost shortly after spawning.

Importance

This sucker has white, flaky flesh and is quite tasty. The spring spawning run offers an opportunity for dip-netting and considerable numbers are eaten locally across Canada. It has been marketed with other suckers as "mullet" but has never formed a major fishery. White Suckers are not fished for but can provide good sport taken on light tackle using various baits, wet flies or spinners. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources publishes a print and on-line "Guide to Eating Ontario Sport Fish" (www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/) and has advisory limits for eating this species in the Mississippi River, Rideau River and Ottawa River. Environnement Québec also has recommended limits, in meals per month (1 to 8) for size of fish (small, medium or large), for such areas as Lac Deschênes at Aylmer and Quyon, Deschênes Rapids, the Ottawa River below Gatineau, above Hull, and at Masson, the Lièvre River above and below Buckingham and the Gatineau River at Chelsea, among others (www.menv.gouv.qc.ca, downloaded 13 October 2004). As these limits are apt to change, anglers consuming this fish should consult the most recent version.

Young White Suckers are sold as bait in Canada for Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike and Muskellunge. In the U.S.A. they are reared artificially and in both Canada and the U.S.A. are used for feeding hatchery sport fishes. In the past, Canadian farmers pitch-forked wagon-loads of suckers out of streams to use as pig food. Introduced populations significantly decrease the production of Brook Trout.

Silver Redhorse / Chevalier blanc
Moxostoma anisurum (Rafinesque, 1820)

Taxonomy

Other common names include Suceur blanc, Silver Mullet, Whitenose Redhorse, White Nosed Sucker, Chevalier blanc, Carpe blanche and Moxostome blanc.

Key Characters

This species is distinguished by a short dorsal fin, a swimbladder with 3 chambers, lateral line scales 38-48, scales around the caudal peduncle usually 12, occasionally 13 (rarely as high as 15-16), greatest body depth enters body length to end of scales 3.5 times of less, the lower lip is thin and the plicae are long and narrow with cross lines.

Description

The mouth is overhung by the snout. The dorsal fin edge is convex in adults to straight in young. The upper lip is narrow and has plicae only on the inside. The lower lip is deeply cleft and the halves meet at 90° or more. Gill rakers short numbering 25-28. Pharyngeal teeth are elongate and thick but not molar-shaped. The gut has 5 coils. Dorsal fin rays 13-18, anal rays 7, pectoral rays 16-20 and pelvic rays 8-10. Males have large nuptial tubercles on the anal and caudal fins, and minute tubercles on paired fins, dorsal fin, head and on some scales.

Colour

The back is olive-green to bronze or brown with silvery or yellowish-gold flanks and a silvery to white belly. The flank may have bronze tinges particularly in spawning fish. The snout is often white. Scales are outlined with dark pigment but bases are not strongly pigmented. Paired fins are dusky to pale red, orange or yellowish. Caudal and dorsal fins are slatey to dusky. Young have 2-3 flank blotches. Peritoneum silvery with a few black spots.

Size

Reaches 71.1 cm. The world, all-tackle angling record from Plum Creek, Wisconsin was caught in 1985 and weighed 5.18 kg.

Distribution

Found in central North America from southern Canada south to northern Alabama and Georgia. In Canada it is found from the upper St. Lawrence River basin in southwestern Québec, west through the Great Lakes and southern Ontario to southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan and over the Alberta border in the North and South Saskatchewan rivers.

Origin

This species entered the NCR from a Mississippian refugium.

Habitat

This redhorse is usually found in slow, deep pools of streams and large rivers but also occurs in lakes. It is sensitive to siltation and pollution. Campbell (2001) in a study directed to Moxostoma species found this species to be the second most abundant species after Rock Bass in the Mississippi River and in the lower Gatineau River on 2 June 1998 fishing from 2000 to 2400 hours for Moxostoma only, the second most abundant after M. carinatum with M. macrolepidotum next.

Age and Growth

Life span is 27 years (Reid, 2008) with maturity attained at 5-8 years. Females grow faster and live longer than males. The average fork length in the Lac des Chats (an Ottawa River section) was 489.9 mm and average weight was 519 g (Haxton, 1999).

Food

Food is aquatic insects, crustaceans and occasionally molluscs and phytoplankton.

Reproduction

An upstream spawning run may begin in Lake Erie as soon as the ice goes out. Spawning occurs in May-June at 13°C or more in moderate to fast, turbid, shallow streams with gravel bottoms at less than 2 m depth. Males arrive on the spawning grounds before females and are thought to defend a territory. Eggs number up to 36,340.

Importance

It may form part of the commercial catch in the St. Lawrence River.

River Redhorse / Chevalier de rivière
Moxostoma carinatum (Cope, 1870)

Taxonomy

Other common names include Suceur ballot, River Mullet, Greater Redhorse, Redfin Redhorse, Pavement-toothed Redhorse, Big-jawed Sucker, Big-toothed Redhorse, Ballot and Chevalier ballot.

Key Characters

This species is distinguished by a short dorsal fin, a swimbladder with 3 chambers, lateral line scales 41-47, scales around the caudal peduncle usually 12-13, (rarely 15-16), lower lip at least 3 times wider than upper lip and almost straight along rear edge and without transverse lines or papillae across long, narrow plicae, pelvic fin origin anterior to midpoint of dorsal fin base, pharyngeal teeth molar-shaped and numbering 6-9 on lower half of tooth row. This species is difficult to identify in the field and this lack of accurate identification may impair its survival through a lack of awareness of its presence and hence biology (Parker, 1988).

Description

The mouth is slightly overhung by the snout. Gill rakers 26-30. Dorsal fin rays 12-15, anal rays 7-9, pectoral rays 15-19 and pelvic rays 8-10. Gut with 5-6 coils. Males have nuptial tubercles on the back of the head, snout, cheek and throat. Minute tubercles line scale margins on the upper flank, on dorsal, anal and caudal fin rays and on the anterior pectoral and pelvic fin rays. The anal fin is longer in males than females. Females have thickened skin on the lower caudal peduncle.

Colour

The back and upper flank are brown or bronze to olive- or lime-green, paling to a white to yellow belly. The flank may be silvery. There is often a golden sheen over the flank and belly. Dorsal, anal and caudal fins are pale red, leading edges of the pelvic fins are pale red, and of the pectoral and pelvic fins are white. Pectoral fins olive. There may be a thin vertical line at the caudal fin base. Upper flank scales have a dark pigment spot at their base. Breeding males have a head and mid-flank dark stripe ending above the anal fin. Peritoneum silvery.

Size

Reaches 79.8 cm total length, and 7.938 kg (Gatineau River, Campbell (2001), the longest and heaviest on record). The world, all-tackle angling record from Limestone Creek, Alabama weighed 2.52 kg and was caught in 1985. A 3.96 kg fish is recorded from the Trent River, Ontario.

Distribution

Found in the St. Lawrence River and nearby waters around Montréal, the Ausable River of Lake Huron and the Grand River of Lake Erie in Canada. South to Florida and west to Ohio and Arkansas but sporadically distributed. In the NCR it is found in the Mississippi River and the nearby Ottawa River. Parker (1988) suggests that other populations exist in the Ottawa River, confirmed by Campbell (2001). The Mississippi and Gatineau River populations are some of the few known reproducing in Canada.

Origin

This species entered the NCR from a Mississippian refugium.

Habitat

River Redhorses, as the name suggests, are found in moderate to large, fast rivers in deeper water when not spawning. They can occur in lakes, though less frequently. They are found over a silt-free stone, rubble or bedrock bottom with a preference for watersheds dominated by limestone or shale bedrock. Low turbidity is favoured (McAllister et al. (1985). Spawning requires rock, stone, gravel and cobble substrates in fast-flowing and shallow water (often less than 1 m deep). Mean July water temperatures are greater than 20°C with a maximum at 25°C (Parker, 1988; McAllister et al., 1985). Campbell (2001) caught this species in the Mississippi and Gatineau rivers from 7° to 27°C. They are soon eliminated by pollution and a population in the Mississippi River of the NCR may be declining, probably due to sport fishing (Parker, 1988), but also due to increased sediment load  from agriculture affecting the invertebrate food supply (Campbell, 2001). Parker and McKee (1980) suggest that it makes up 5% of redhorses captured in the Mississippi River. However see the data from Campbell (2001) summarised in part above under M. anisurum where the River Redhorse accounted for 4.7% of the total sample of fishes in the Mississippi River and 12.1% of the Catostomidae although sampling methodology is probably the reason for the disparity. This study also showed that in the Gatineau River from 29 April to 23 June 1999, M. carinatum comprised 11.4% of all fish captured and 32% of all Catostomidae. The population in the Mississippi River between Almonte and Galetta numbers an estimated 623-830 fish, less in other sections, while the Gatineau River spawning population near the Alonzo Wright Bridge ranged from 671-694 fish.

Age and Growth

Life span is at least 30 years (Campbell, 2001) with maturity at 5-10 years. Both males and females exceed 70 cm in the NCR (Campbell, 2001). Growth rate for Ontario fish is slower than in Missouri populations. In the Mississippi River study of Campbell (2001) males were shorter and less heavy than females but this was not the case for fish from the Ottawa River. The average fork length in the Lac des Chats (an Ottawa River section) was 620 mm and average weight was 3531 g (Haxton, 1999). Young are smaller than other redhorses because of the later spawning.

Food

Food is aquatic insects such as mayflies, trichopterans, chironomids and coleopterans and, when larger, molluscs crushed by the molar teeth, as well as other bottom invertebrates such as crayfish. Food is detected by sight.

Reproduction

Spawning may occur in large rivers or in the upper parts of large tributary streams after a migration. Canadian reproduction probably occurs at the end of May and into June at water temperatures over 18°C. Campbell (2001) summarised spawning in the lower Gatineau River in 1999 as follows. Fish arrived on the spawning grounds between 30 April and 10 May at temperatures of 7.5-12.5°C, males leaking milt were observed between 20 May and 30 May at temperatures of 12.5-14.5°C, females leaking eggs were observed between 30 May and 9 June at temperatures of 14.5-18.0°C, spawned females were observed between 9 June and 19 June at temperatures of 18.0-19.0°C and spawned males were seen around 19 June. The spawning period is mostly in late May and June at 17.5-19.0°C. The water is fast and shallow, about 1.5-2.5 m deep (Campbell, 2001). Males arrive on gravel shoals before females and excavate nests using tail sweeps, head pushes and carrying with the mouth. This may occur only where the spawning substrate is small and, some of it at least, is a result of spawning activity, not a preparation for spawning (Campbell, 2001). In the NCR, the large rocks and stones (>7 cm) in the Mississippi and Gatineau rivers may well make redd construction difficult. Nest or spawning areas may be up to 2.4 m across and 30 cm deep. A male maintains a stationary position over the nest facing upstream until a female approaches when he darts back and forth across the nest. A second male joins the first synchronising his movements with the first until the female takes up a position between the 2 males. All 3 fish vibrate strongly, yellow eggs are shed and fertilised, and buried in the gravel. Eggs are up to 4.4 mm in diameter, non-adhesive, and each female can have up to 42,630 eggs. Incubation is short, 3-4 days at 22°C (Parker, 1988).

Importance

This species has formed a minor part of a commercial catch near Montréal in the past. It may be caught by sport fishermen in Ontario. Bone remains have been found in Indian middens. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada gave this species a status of "Special Concern" in 1987 (COSEWIC, 2002). The proposed micro-hydro power facility on the Mississippi River at Blakeney Falls was a potential threat to this species, averted by local protests (Chaundy, 1987). Nearly 70% of fish examined by Campbell (2001) in the Mississippi River had lacerations, infections, leeches, fungus, tumours, blindness and invertebrate parasites while only 6% exhibited similar trauma in the Gatineau River. Lamprey scars were noted on the Gatineau River fish (no lampreys are known from the Mississippi River).

Shorthead Redhorse / Chevalier rouge
Moxostoma macrolepidotum (Lesueur, 1817)

Taxonomy

Other common names include Suceur rouge, Northern Redhorse, Common Redhorse, Redfin, Red Sucker, Common Mullet, Short-headed Mullet, Bigscale Sucker, Brook Mullet, River Sucker, Eastern Redhorse, Chevalier rouge, Carpe à cochon aux ailes rouges and Moxostome doré à cochon.

Key Characters

This species is distinguished by a short dorsal fin, a swimbladder with 3 chambers, lateral line scales 38-48, scales around the caudal peduncle 12-13 (rarely 15-16), lower lip thick, posterior edge nearly straight and lips not nearly as wide as snout, pharyngeal teeth not molar-like but blade-like, pelvic fin origin opposite dorsal fin mid-point, eye large (diameter about two-thirds or more of lip width), nostrils behind maxillary tip, and a small mouth overhung by snout.

Description

The dorsal fin is emarginate and appears s-shaped at its posterior margin. The front of the head is rounded and subconical. Gill rakers 22-30. Dorsal fin rays 10-15, anal rays 6-8, pectoral rays 14-19 and pelvic rays 8-10. The gut has 6 rounded coils. Males have large nuptial tubercles on the anal and caudal fins with minute tubercles scattered over much of the rest of the body and fins.

Colour

The overall colour is brown to olive fading to a whitish or yellowish belly. Scales on the upper flank have black pigment at their base forming a crescent. Variously tinged with reflective golden, bronze, yellow or green. Fins are all reddish to some degree. Pectoral and pelvic fins may be more orange or yellowish, the dorsal fin may have only a red tip with a black margin and dusky to orange over most of the fin and the caudal fin may only be margined with red. Young fish have 2-4 dark saddles. Breeding males and females have blood-red caudal fins and lower fins are a brilliant orange-red. Peritoneum silvery.

Size

Attains 75.0 cm and 4.5 kg. The world, all-tackle angling record weighed 2.16 kg and was caught at Island Park, Indiana in 1984. A 4.0 kg fish is recorded from the North River, Ontario.

Distribution

Found from southwestern Québec and its James Bay shore, throughout Ontario, southern and central Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and southeastern Alberta. In the U.S.A. south to South Carolina, Alabama and Texas and west to Montana. This is the commonest redhorse in the NCR.

Origin

This species entered the NCR possibly from an Atlantic or Mississippian refugium (Mandrak and Crossman, 1992).

Habitat

This redhorse is usually found in lakes and the clearer rivers with slow to moderate current, over sand, gravel or rock. It is not very tolerant of pollution and siltation but can withstand water temperatures up to 37.2°C and so is found in sluggish, shallow and unshaded rivers. Its preferred temperature is 26.0-27.5°C. In the NCR this species is found in some polluted waters and where river bottoms are covered in wood chips (McAllister and Coad, 1975). In the South Nation River from the mouth to the weir at Plantagenet Springs, this species was the one most commonly caught in hoop-nets (Lauzon, 2003).

Age and Growth

Life span in Canada is cited as 14 years, longer than southern populations. Reid (2008), using opercles for ageing, found life span to be 20 years. Maturity is attained at 2-5 years depending on locality. Near Montréal life span is reported to be 11 years with maturity attained at age 3-6. In the Plantagenet and Chesterville reaches of the South Nation River, an age range of 2-10 years was recorded (Lauzon, 2003).

Food

Food is principally aquatic insects and crustaceans, with worms and molluscs and some phytoplankton slurped and strained from bottom sediments.

Reproduction

Spawning takes place from May to July, mostly May in Canada, after a migration into riffle areas of streams at about 11°C around Montréal. A female caught above the Deschênes Rapids of the Ottawa River on 24 May had eggs at maximum size. Nuptial tubercles were well-developed on a fish recorded by F. W. Schueler on 28 April 1990 at Oxford Mills Dam on Kemptville Creek. Males arrive first and defend a territory although no nest is built. Depressions seen in bottom sediments may be incidental to spawning movements and not a nest. Each female is flanked by 2 males who press their caudal regions against her. Spawning takes only 2-3 seconds and is accompanied by vibrations. Eggs are shed and abandoned at night, in the early morning, or during the day. Each female may carry up to 44,000 eggs of 2.2 mm diameter.

Importance

This is the most abundant redhorse species in Canadian waters and was important in commercial redhorse catches, although these catches were minor compared to other fishes. The flesh is good eating, reputedly the best of all suckers but, as with all redhorses, there are numerous bones which make them difficult to prepare. The flesh should be scored or turned into ground meat for patties. Environnement Québec has a recommended limit of 8 meals per month for small fish and 4 for medium and large fish from the Lièvre River at and above Buckingham (www.menv.gouv.qc.ca, downloaded 13 October 2004). As these limits are apt to change, anglers consuming this fish should consult the most recent version. Anglers catch this species on spawning migrations on hooks baited with worms, grasshoppers, grubs and meat, and on artificial wet flies and plugs.

Greater Redhorse / Chevalier jaune
Moxostoma valenciennesi Jordan, 1885

Taxonomy

Other common names are Suceur jaune, Common Redhorse, Carpe jaune and Moxostome jaune.

Key Characters

This species is distinguished by a short dorsal fin, a swimbladder with 3 chambers, lateral line scales 41-46, scales around the caudal peduncle usually 15-16, scales over the back just in front of the dorsal from lateral line to lateral line usually 12-13 (excluding lateral line scales), and pharyngeal teeth small, comb-like and 12-30 on lower half of the tooth row.

Description

The maximum body depth enters body length to the end of the scales 4 times or more. The dorsal fin usually has a convex (straight or rounded) margin. The snout is longer than the postorbital length. The mouth is not overhung by the snout. The upper lip is wide with coarse plicae. The lower lip is deeply cleft and wide, plicae are coarse, deep and lack cross striations. Gill rakers 24-31. Dorsal fin rays 11-15, anal rays 7, pectoral rays 15-19 and pelvic rays 8-10. The gut has 5-8 coils. Males have nuptial tubercles on the anal and caudal fins and also on the pectoral and pelvic fin rays. Anal fin tubercles may be up to 5 mm across at the base and are larger than those on the caudal fin. The head and body scales are also minutely tuberculate.

Colour

Overall colour is dark olive-green, or greyish, with bronze, yellow-gold or golden tints on the flanks, fading ventrally to a milky-white or silvery-white belly. The overall colour may be a golden-brown. The dorsal, anal and caudal fins are dark red. The caudal may be mostly grey. Median fins may be red only at their margins. Scales have a dark crescent of pigment on the base. The anterior tip of the dorsal fin is white to pink and the anterior rays of the pelvic and pectoral fins white, yellowish or reddish-orange. The pectoral fin is olive and the pelvic fin is pale red. This species is darker overall than the Silver Redhorse with which it is commonly caught.

Size

Reaches 67.3 cm total length and 7.3 kg. The world, all-tackle angling record weighed 4.16 kg and was caught in the Salmon River, New York in 1985.

Distribution

Found in southern Ontario and southwestern Québec in the St. Lawrence River, Richelieu River and Ottawa River, lakes Ontario, Erie, St. Clair and Huron and their tributaries. In the U.S.A. in the southern Great Lakes, St. Lawrence River and upper Mississippi River basins.

Origin

This species entered the NCR from a Mississippian refugium.

Habitat

This redhorse favours clear, clean, hard-bottomed streams and lake margins but also occurs over softer bottoms in muddy areas. It may be sensitive to turbidity, siltation and pollution. It may be generally uncommon or disjunctly distributed but this is confounded by identification problems.

Age and Growth

Life span is 20 years with sexual maturity attained at 5-9 years, usually one year later for females than males. In the Chesterville Reach of the South Nation River an age range of 2-12 years was recorded (Lauzon, 2003).

Food

Food is principally crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic insects, with some macrophytes and worms. Eggs of this redhorse are eaten by American Eels, Fallfish and Yellow Perch, and by the redhorses themselves while on the spawning grounds.

Reproduction

Spawning occurs over a 5-14 day period from mid-May to early July at 13.0-19.9°C, often after an upstream migration to suitable spawning habitat. Sunny afternoons are favoured for spawning although it may occur as late as midnight. There are up to 71,920 eggs per female up to 2.0 mm in diameter. A female from the Rideau River in the NCR had eggs up to 2.0 mm on 16 June. The spawning habitat is less than 2 m deep and has a pebble, gravel, cobble, sand or rubble bed and moderate to swift current. Males move slowly on the spawning ground, often gently nudging and pushing each other. The female selects a spawning site and is flanked by 2 males. Other, satellite males attempt to join in. The female is nuzzled by males in the genital area. Eggs and sperm are shed as the fish quiver and tremor for 2-8 seconds, the males pressing against the female. Dorsal and caudal fins will break the water surface during spawning and males roll over one another and the female. One study in southern Ontario showed males maintain station on or near spawning areas and 2-3 males attempt to initiate spawning when an individual female approaches from downriver.

Importance

It may form a small portion of commercial catches of coarse fishes and is occasionally caught by anglers.

Top

© Brian W. Coad (www.briancoad.com)