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sucker


sucker

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Sucker (Catostomus)—Grant Heilman Photography

Any of 80–100 species (family Catostomidae) of freshwater food fishes found mostly in North America. Suckers can be distinguished from minnows by the sucking mouth, with protrusible lips, on the underside of the head. Generally sluggish, they suck up detritus, invertebrates, and plants from the bottom of lakes and slow streams. The species vary greatly in size. The lake chubsucker (Erimyzon sucetta) grows to 10 in. (25 cm) long; the bigmouth buffalo fish (Ictiobus cyprinellus) grows to 35 in. (90 cm) and over 70 lbs (32 kg).

This entry comes from Encyclopædia Britannica Concise.
For the full entry on sucker, visit Britannica.com.

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