Endangered
Shortnose sucker
Chasmistes brevirostris
Shortnose suckers are uniquely variable in their shape and form, making them easy to mistake for other fish (and have been miscategorized as unique species more than once).
Appearance
When trying to identify this fish amongst its close relatives, look for a notched lower lip, striped patterns on both lips, and few or no papillae on the lips (fewer than five pairs). On average, the number of anal fin rays present in this fish is seven, the number of lateral line scales ranges from 67 to 92, the number of pairs of gill rakers ranges from 32 to 41, and the number of dorsal fin rays ranges from 10 to 13.
Range and habitat
Today this fish can be found in Upper Klamath Lake and its tributaries, the Lost River, Clear Lake, the Klamath River, and Gerber Reservoir of the Klamath Project. Even though, only the Upper Klamath Lake, Gerber Reservoir, and Clear Lake have been seen to be active spawning populations. The preferable habitat for the fish is a large, turbid, shallow, somewhat alkaline, clear, well-oxygenated lake that is cool, but not cold, in the summer season.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
C. Brevirostris largely eat cladoceran zooplankton, algae, and other small marine invertebrates and crustaceans. Juveniles feed more in benthic areas, eating mostly insect larvae.
The fish usually spawns in flowing river habitat, such as riffles, with gravelly or rocky substrates. It was at one time observed to spawn at lakeshores, but it apparently does this rarely today.
In crisis
Threats to this species include the reduction of its spawning habitat, much of that was eliminated by the construction of dams in local waterways.
Shortnose sucker is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Shortnose sucker, Wikidata item Q3756626. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
