Iowa Fish Atlas

Native: Yes

State Rank: S3

ITIS Code: 163953          

National Rank: N3           

Global Rank: G3

Modeled By: Anna Loan-Wilsey

State Range:

The blue sucker is most widely distributed in the Missouri and Mississippi River and can occasionally be found in the lower reaches of their tributaries. There is no record of blue suckers ever being caught in the upper reaches of Iowa’s interior streams (Harlan et al. 1987).  Because it is virtually invulnerable to normal collecting most of the year (Etnier and Starnes 1993; Pflieger 1997), the blue sucker is likely more abundant and widespread than is reported.

Habitat Affinities:

The blue sucker prefers the swift waters of big rivers overlying firm substrates such as sand, gravel or rock (Etnier and Starnes 1993; Pflieger 1997). Robison and Buchanan (1988) found that it also inhabits the channels of deep lakes and Trautman (1981) found that it prefers clear channels and pools with moderate current. In Missouri the blue sucker is typically found where the channel is constricted by natural or artificial obstructions, including bedrock or boulder riffles, the tailwaters of dams, wing dikes and bridge abutments. As a migratory species, the blue sucker has declined in abundance since 1900 (Eddy and Underhill 1974) as dam construction has increased (Pflieger 1997; Smith 1979). Dams have also limited the blue sucker’s habitat by decreasing current velocity and increasing siltation (Pflieger 1971). Due to its sensitivity to heavy pollution and siltation, the blue sucker can serve as a guide to judging water quality (Phillips et al. 1982).

Predictive Model(s):

Statewide Models: by 8-digit HU [Decision Tree Analysis n=13]

The distribution is based upon existing collection records and professional review.

("FLOW" = 1 AND "TEMP_CODE" = 2 AND "SDISCR_2C" = 0 AND "STRAHLER" > 6)

Mississippi River Model:

The distribution is based upon existing collection records and professional review.

(("pool" >= 'S08' AND "pool" <= 'S17') OR ("pool" >= 'S19' AND "pool" <= 'S20'))

Missouri River Model

The distribution is based upon existing collection records and professional review.

("pool" >= 'O17' AND "pool" <= 'O19')

Overall Prediction:

("FLOW" = 1 AND "TEMP_CODE" = 2 AND "SDISCR_2C" = 0 AND "STRAHLER" > 6) OR (("pool" >= 'S08' AND "pool" <= 'S17') OR ("pool" >= 'S19' AND "pool" <= 'S20')) OR ("pool" >= 'O17' AND "pool" <= 'O19')

Literature Cited:

Eddy, S., and J.C. Underhill.  1974.  Northern fishes; with special reference to the upper Mississippi Valley.  University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  414 pp.

Etnier, D.A., and W.E. Starnes.  1993.  The fishes of Tennessee.  University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, Tennessee.  681 pp.

Harlan, J.R., E.B. Speaker, and J. Mayhew.  1987.  Iowa fish and fishing. Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa. 323pp.

Pflieger, W.L.  1971.  A distributional study of Missouri fishes.  University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History  20(3):225-570.

Pflieger, W.L.  1997.  The fishes of Missouri.  Missouri Department of Conservation, Jefferson City, Missouri.  372 pp.

Phillips, G.L., W.D. Schmid, and J.C. Underhill.  1982.  Fishes of the Minnesota region.  University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  248 pp.

Robison, H.W., and T.M. Buchanan. 1988.  Fishes of Arkansas.  University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, Arkansas.  536 pp.

Smith, P.W.  1979.  The fishes of Illinois.  University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois.  314 pp.

Trautman, M.B.  1981.  The fishes of Ohio.  Revised Edition.  Ohio State University Press in collaboration with the Ohio Sea Grant Program Center for Lake Erie Area Research,  Columbus, Ohio.  782 pp.

Data Sources:

Atchison, G.J., R.W. Bachmann, J.G., Nickum,  J.B. Barnumand, and M.B. Sandheinrich.

1986.  Aquatic biota associated with channel stabilization structures and abandoned channels in the middle Missouri River. Final Report.  Environmental and water quality operational studies.  Technical Report E-86-6, Department of the Army, US Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, D.C.

Barnickol, P.G., and W.C. Starrett.  1951.  Commercial and sport fishes of the

Mississippi River between Caruthersville, Missouri, and Dubuque, Iowa.  Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin 25(Article 5):267-347.

Berry, C.R., D.L. Galat, and M.L. Wildhaber.  2004.  Fish distribution and abundance. 

Volume 3.  Population structure and habitat use of benthic fishes along the Missouri and lower Yellowstone rivers.  U.S. Geological Survey, Cooperative Units, South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota.

Black Hawk Fish Management.  2002.  Field notes and unpublished reports.  Northwest

Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Lake View, Iowa.

Cleary, R.E.  1956.  Summary of the cooperative exploratory fishing operations in the

Wisconsin-Illinois-Iowa sections of the Mississippi River- 1956.  Job Description Investigations Projects.  Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa.

Dieterman, D., and C.R. Berry Jr.  1995.  The distribution and relative abundance of

fishes in the Big Sioux River, South Dakota: statewide fisheries investigations progress report.  South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota.

Gelwicks, G., J. Heitke, and G. Simmons.  2002.  Contemporary fish survey. Iowa

Department of Natural Resources, Manchester, Iowa.

Hesse, L.W., Q.L. Bliss, and G.J. Zuerlein.  1982.  Some aspects of the ecology of adult

fishes in the channelized Missouri River with special reference to the effects of two nuclear power generating stations.  Pages 224-277 in Hesse, L.W., et al, editors, The Middle Missouri River: a collection of papers on the biology with special reference to power station effects.  The Missouri River Study Group, Norfolk, Nebraska.

Iowa State University Museum.  1985.  Collection of fishes catalog, 1878-1985.   Iowa

State University, Ames, Iowa.

Kallemeyn, L.W.  1977.  Fish and fish food organisms in various habitats of the Missouri

River in South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa.  FWS/OBS-77/25.  United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C.

Kline, D.  1988.  Fish sampling study: Iowa and Cedar Rivers, Fall 1988.  Unpublished

report.  Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Des Moines, Iowa.

Lake Darling Fish Management.  2002.  Field notes of data collected for the EPA. 

Southeast Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Brighton, Iowa.     

Lake MacBride Fish Management.  2002.  Field notes and unpublished reports. 

Southeast Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Solon, Iowa.

LGL Ecological Research Associates.  1981.  Study of fish in the main channel of the

Mississippi River between river miles 500 and 513.5.  Final Report.  Great II Fish and Wildlife Management Work Group and Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Rock Island, Illinois.

Long Term Resource Monitoring Program.  2002.   Pool 13 database, 1990-2001.  Upper

Midwest Environmental Science Center, Bellevue, Iowa.

Manchester Fish Management.  2002.  Field notes and unpublished reports.  Northeast

Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Manchester, Iowa.

Meek, S.E.  1892.  Report upon the fishes of Iowa, based upon observations and

collections mad during 1889, 1890, 1891.  Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission. 10(1890):217-248.

Nord, R.C.  1967.  A compendium of fishery information on the Upper Mississippi River.

Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Rock Island, Illinois. 238 pp. 

Robinson, D.J.  1959.  A brief electro-survey of the Iowa waters of the Missouri River. 

Quarterly Biology Reports 11(3):32-33.

Spirit Lake Fish Management.  2002.  Fish kill data.  Northwest Management District,

Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Orleans, Iowa.

UMRCC.  1953.  Revised species list- northern section of the river.  Pages 19-32 in

Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Meeting, Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Rock Island, Illinois.

Additional References:

Becker, G.C.  1983.  Fishes of Wisconsin.  University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. 1052 pp.

Burr, B.M., and R.L. Mayden. 1999.  A new species of Cycleptus (Cypriniformes: Catostomidae) from Gulf Slope drainages of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, with a review of the distribution, biology, and conservation status of the genus.  Bulletin of the Alabama Museum of Natural History 20:19-57.

Burr, B. M., and M.L. Warren, Jr.  1986.  A distributional atlas of Kentucky fishes.  Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission, Scientific and Technical Series No. 4., Frankfort, Kentucky.  398 pp.

Buth, D.G., and R.L. Mayden.  2001.  Allozymic and isozymic evidence for polytypy in the North American catostomid genus Cycleptus.  Copeia 2001:899-906.

Clay, W.M.  1975.  The fishes of Kentucky.  Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Frankfort, Kentucky.  416 pp.

Cooper, E.L.  1983.  Fishes of Pennsylvania and the northeastern United States.  Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, Pennsylvania. 243 pp.

Cross, F.B.  1967.  Handbook of fishes of Kansas.  University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Miscellaneous Publication  No. 45, Lawrence, Kansas.  357 pp.

Cross, F.B., and J.T. Collins.  1995.  Fishes in Kansas.  University of Kansas Natural History Museum, Public Education Series No. 14, Lawrence, Kansas.   315 pp.

Douglas, N.H.  1974.  Freshwater fishes of Louisiana.  Claitor’s Publishing Division, Sponsored by Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  443 pp.

Forbes, S.A., and R.E. Richardson.  1920.  The fishes of Illinois.  Natural History Survey of Illinois, Springfield, Illinois.  Volume 3,  357 pp.

Gelwicks, G.T.  1995.  Fish movement between the lower Missouri River and a managed floodplain wetland in Missouri.  Master’s thesis. University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri. 190 pp.

Kelly, G., editor.  1986.  Animal habitat relations handbook.  Missouri Department of Conservation and U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Jefferson City, Missouri.  293 pp.

Lee, D.S., C.R. Gilbert, C.H. Hocutt, R.E. Jenkins, D.E. McAllister, and J.R. Stauffer, Jr.  1980.  Atlas of North American freshwater fishes.  North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina.  867 pp.

Mettee, M.F., P.E. O'Neil, and J.M. Pierson.  1996.  Fishes of Alabama and the Mobile Basin.  Oxmoor House, Birmingham, Alabama.  820 pp.

Moss, R.E., J.W. Scanlan, and C.S. Anderson.  1983.  Observations on the natural history of the blue sucker (Cycleptus elongatus Le Sueur) in the Neosho River.  American Midland Naturalist 109:15-22.

Nelson, J.S.  1984.  Fishes of the world. Second edition.  John Wiley and Sons, New York.  523 pp.

Page, L.M., and B.M. Burr.  1991.  A field guide to freshwater fishes: North America north of Mexico.  Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 432 pp.

Pflieger, W.L.  1989a.  Aquatic community classification system for Missouri.  Missouri Department of Conservation.  Jefferson City, Missouri.  Aquatic Series No. 19. 70 pp. plus Supplement.

Pflieger, W.L.  1989b.  The stream resources of Missouri.  D-J Project - F-1-R-28.  Study S-20.  Missouri Department of Conservation, Columbia, Missouri.  

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, Bethesda, Maryland. 183 pp.

Smith, G.R. 1992.  Phylogeny and biogeography of the Catostomidae, freshwater fishes of North America and Asia. Pages 778-826 in Mayden, R.L., editor.  Systematics, historical ecology, and North American freshwater fishes. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. xxvi + 969 pp.

Starnes, W.C.  1995.  Taxonomic validation for fish species on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Category 2 species list.  28 pp.

Sublette, J.E., M.D Hatch, and M. Sublette.  1990.  The fishes of New Mexico.  University New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico.  393 pp.

Thom, R.H., and J.H. Wilson.  1980.  The natural divisions of Missouri.  Transactions of the Missouri Academy of Science  14:9-24.

Tibbs, J.E.  1995.  Habitat use by small fishes in the lower Mississippi River related to foraging by least terns, Sterna altillarum.  Master’s thesis, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri.  184 pp.

Warren, M.L. Jr., B.M. Burr, S.J. Walsh, H.L. Bart Jr., R.C. Cashner, D.A. Etnier, B.J. Freeman, B.R. Kuhajda, R.L. Mayden, H.W. Robison, S.T. Ross, and W.C. Starnes.  2000.  Diversity, distribution, and conservation status of the native freshwater fishes of the southern United States.  Fisheries 25(10): 7-31.

Williams, J.E., J E. Johnson, D.A. Hendrickson, S. Contreras-Balderas, J.D. Williams, M. Navarro-Mendoza, D.E. McAllister, and J.E. Deacon. 1989.  Fishes of North America endangered, threatened, or of special concern: 1989.  Fisheries 14:2-20.

Yeager, B.L., and K J. Semmens.  1987.  Early development of the blue sucker, Cycleptus elongatus.  Copeia 1987:312- 316.

Photo Credits:

Upper Left:       Photo courtesy of Konrad P. Schmidt, copyright Konrad P. Schmidt.

Upper Right:     Photo courtesy of Konrad P. Schmidt, copyright Konrad P. Schmidt.