Cisco's Sonar - Utah Suckers

I enjoyed last week’s historical article on Utah suckers.  It always intrigues me how suckers could be so prized years ago but considered a “trash” fish today.  Years ago, I was told a story how fish saved a mountain man’s life.   A group of Shoshoni Indians had captured a trapper and were torturing him on the east shore of Bear Lake.  All of a sudden, schools of suckers amassed off the shore.  The Shoshoni immediately forgot about the captive and started catching suckers which was what they came to the lake for.  The hostage escaped thanks to the fish.

 The Utah suckers arrived the latter part of May right on schedule.  They are ecstatic (not really because fish don’t have emotions) because much more of the rock lining of the inside of the marina is covered with water increasing spawning areas.  They cause a huge commotion during their spawning activity.  The males are black with yellow stripes and the females are dark brown.  The males change color and develop spawning tubercles (rough bumps along their sides) that aid in pressing against the female to eject eggs and milt.  Two males will come alongside a female near the shoreline and they will vibrate violently to release the eggs together at which point the fertilized eggs will sink in between the rocky substrate at the bottom.  Sometimes the fish will even flip up on shore out of the water.  The reason they need rocks is because right behind them is a hungry carp which sucks up the eggs immediately.  The suckers may also do the same thing.  In the spaces between the rocks Bear Lake sculpin also feed on the eggs. 

They hatch within a week as larval fish, little more than a speck, and begin to provide food for the rest of the fish in the lake.  Probably less than one in a million eggs will make it to adult age but the population is stable.  Only large trout feed on adult suckers, there is unlimited food for them and most live for at least twenty years.  Their population is senescent (stable) with mortality equaling recruitment.

Suckers in other bodies of water, particularly reservoirs can be a problem but they evolved here in Bear Lake and are a vital part of the ecosystem.  They feed on invertebrates in the sediment that are not available to other fish and when they do they leave “pockmarks” in the bottom that provides cover for Bear Lake sculpin.  Just because they are ugly doesn’t make them bad.