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Home/Species/ Flannelmouth Sucker

Catostomus latipinnis

Baird and Girard, 1853

Flannelmouth Sucker

G3Vulnerable (G3G4) Found in 1 roadless area NatureServe Explorer →
G3VulnerableGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.106213
Element CodeAFCJC02110
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicendemic to a single nation
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassActinopterygii
OrderCypriniformes
FamilyCatostomidae
GenusCatostomus
Concept Reference
Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp.
Taxonomic Comments
This sucker hybridizes with the razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus) and the white sucker (Catostomus commersoni), an introduced species. The sucker in the Little Colorado River is recognized as a distinct, undescribed species; it is under study by A. Hutchison and D. Buth (Starnes 1995). Range-wide study of genetic diversity is needed (Starnes 1995). See Smith (1992) for a study of the phylogeny and biogeography of the Catostomidae.
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2011-10-26
Change Date1998-07-13
Edition Date2011-10-26
Edition AuthorsHammerson, G.
Range Extent20,000-200,000 square km (about 8000-80,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences21 - 300
Rank Reasons
Occurs in the Colorado River basin from Wyoming to Arizona-California; locally common in the northern part of the range, but declining or extirpated in the southern part of the historical range; threatened by ongoing activities including alteration of the hydrologic and thermal characteristics of river habitats, blockage of migration routes due to dam construction, predation by and competition with non-native aquatic species, and hybridization with other species.
Range Extent Comments
Historical range included the Colorado River Basin, from southwestern Wyoming to southern Arizona and Sonora (Lee et al. 1980, Page and Burr 2011). The species is extirpated from the Gila River Basin and the Colorado River below Lake Mead (Arizona Game and Fish Department 1995), except where introduced downstream from Lake Mohave in Arizona and Nevada in the mid-1970s (this population still exists) and in another area along the Arizona-California border (Minckley and Marsh 2009). It is also extirpated in the Colorado River basin in Northern Mexico (Minckley 2002).
Occurrences Comments
This species is represented by a fairly large number of extant occurrences (subpopulations).
Threat Impact Comments
Threats include alteration of the hydrologic and thermal (Clarkson and Childs 2000, Ward et al. 2002) characteristics of river habitats, blockage of migration routes due to dam construction, predation and competition by non-native aquatic species, and hybridization with other Catostomus species (Arizona Game and Fish Department 1995, 1996; Oliver 1997; New Mexico Department of Game and Fish 1997). This species also has suffered directly from fish management activities such as piscicide applications in the Virgin River and elsewhere (Minckley and Marsh 2009).

Young suckers that exit warm tributaries and enter cold hypolimnetic water released from major dams may experience increased susceptibility to predation by rainbow trout and other predators (Ward and Bonar 2003).

The closure of Taylor Draw Dam on the White River, Colorado, changed sucker movement patterns and now apparently prevents the return of fishes to a preferred area (Chart and Bergersen 1992).

Hybridization occurs with the razorback sucker (Sigler and Miller 1963) and with the non-native white sucker. Hybridization is probably the greatest threat in New Mexico, but habitat modification (elevated sediments, channelization, modified flow regimes, and stream dewatering), and contaminants also have contributed to reduced abundance (see New Mexico Department of Game and Fish 1996).
Ecology & Habitat

Description

See Snyder and Muth (1990) for a guide to the identification of larvae and early juveniles.

Habitat

Rocky pools, runs, riffles, and backwaters of medium to large rivers, less often in small rivers and creeks, absent from impoundments (Lee et al. 1980, Sublette et al. 1990, Page and Burr 2011). This species is typical of pools and deeper runs and often enters mouths of small tributaries (Lee et al. 1980). Young usually are in shallower water than are adults (Sigler and Miller 1963). Spawning occurs in riffles, margins of rapids, or in low-gradient mouths of tributaries, usually over a substrate of coarse gravel or gravel-cobble (Lee et al. 1980, Minckley and Marsh 2009).

Ecology

Mobile, with random movements, in the White River, Colorado, prior to closure of Taylor Draw Dam; following closure of the dam, fishes were more active and their movements were directed (Chart and Bergersen 1992).

Reproduction

Spawns spring and early summer. In Colorado, ripe females have been collected in May-early June; both sexes mature at age IV at earliest, most by age VII (McAda and Wydoski 1985). See also McKinney et al. (1999).
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN3
ProvinceRankNative
WyomingS3Yes
NevadaS1Yes
CaliforniaS1Yes
New MexicoS1Yes
ColoradoS3Yes
Navajo NationS3Yes
ArizonaS1Yes
UtahS3Yes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
7 - Natural system modifications——High (continuing)
7.2 - Dams & water management/use——High (continuing)
8 - Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases——High (continuing)
8.1 - Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases——High (continuing)

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Roadless Areas (1)
Utah (1)
AreaForestAcres
Boulder Mtn. / Boulder Top / Deer LakeDixie National Forest110,690
References (48)
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