Suckermouth minnow facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Suckermouth minnow |
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The suckermouth minnow (scientific name: Phenacobius mirabilis) is a type of minnow fish found in North America. It lives in the Mississippi River basin, which stretches from Ohio and West Virginia all the way to Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. You can also find it from southeastern Minnesota down to northern Alabama and southern Oklahoma. This fish also lives in the western part of the Lake Erie area in Ohio.
What the Suckermouth Minnow Looks Like
This fish gets its name from its special mouth, which looks a bit like a sucker. It has a fleshy lower lip. The suckermouth minnow has two main colors. Its back side is brownish, and its belly is a shiny silver-white. A thin black stripe runs along its side, separating these two colors. There's also a black spot at the base of its tail fin.
Male suckermouth minnows are usually more colorful than females. Female fish are typically larger, which helps them lay more eggs. These fish can grow to be about 5 to 13 centimeters (2 to 5 inches) long.
Where the Suckermouth Minnow Lives and What It Eats
Suckermouth minnows live in small to medium-sized streams and rivers. They like water that is clear or a little cloudy. Their favorite water temperature is between 5 and 25 degrees Celsius (41-77 degrees Fahrenheit). They prefer stream beds with a mix of sand and gravel.
Streams that always have water flowing and have rocky, shallow areas (called riffles) are perfect for them. They also like places with very little silt, which is fine dirt that settles at the bottom. These minnows are very good at adapting to different places and can travel long distances.
You can often see suckermouth minnows swimming close to the sandy or gravelly bottom. They mostly eat small insect larvae and pupae. Their diet includes midge larvae, caddisfly larvae, and tiny living things called plankton. Sometimes, they might even eat smaller suckermouth minnows.
Life Cycle and Reproduction
Suckermouth minnows gather in groups to lay their eggs, a process called spawning. This usually happens in late spring to early summer. The water temperature needs to be around 14 to 25 degrees Celsius (57-77 degrees Fahrenheit) for them to spawn.
The eggs are laid in gravel beds. Once laid, the parents do not need to care for them. The embryos inside the eggs need water temperatures between 17 and 23 degrees Celsius (63-73 degrees Fahrenheit) to hatch. Suckermouth minnows typically live for about 3 to 5 years.
