Fisheries and Oceans Canada
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Species - Details
Mike Pearson
Scientific name:
Catostomus catostomus
Taxonomy:
Fishes (freshwater)
Status:
Endangered, listed under SARA
Region: British Columbia
Related Information
Twelve thousand years ago, the majority of British Columbia lay beneath a sheet of ice more than a kilometre thick. For thousands of years, the ice isolated the Chehalis River from the rest of the continent. Unable to interbreed with other populations of their own species, the Chehalis River fish began to evolve. The result was the Chehalis fauna—a community of fish species found nowhere else. When the ice sheet retreated, this unique community began to disperse. One species, the salish sucker migrated north and was among the first fish to re-colonize the newly ice-free rivers of what is now the Fraser River Valley.
Aquatic Species at Risk - Salish Sucker
At a glance
A remnant of the ice age, the Salish sucker is found only in a few small lakes and streams in and around Puget Sound in Washington State and in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley. These watersheds have been adversely affected by forest removal and farming for many decades, and are now threatened more than ever by accelerating urban development. Populations of Salish suckers are declining; indeed, the species in no longer found in some areas it previously inhabited.
About the Salish sucker
Considerably smaller than other suckers, Salish suckers reach approximately 25 centimetres in length. In early summer, they congregate to spawn in the gravel shoals of their creeks. Salish suckers live to about five years of age and tend to feed on insect larvae.
How to recognize a Salish sucker
An inconspicuous fish, the sucker is dark green, mottled with black on top with dull grey-green flanks that bloom to a deep red during spawning. Its fleshy mouth is under the snout, well placed for bottom-feeding.
Mike Pearson
Where the Salish sucker lives
In British Columbia, Salish suckers are found in the headwaters of small streams. Adult suckers enjoy the slow waters of relatively deep pools with plenty of aquatic and bank-side vegetation. Young suckers are found in more shallow areas with abundant vegetation in the stream.
Why it’s at risk
Salish suckers are threatened mainly by agricultural activities and urbanization: spawning grounds have been either physically removed or covered in silt, and headwater areas that used to flow year round are now drying up in the summer due to increased water withdrawal and road construction. Additionally, in many places, the water contains very little oxygen during some times of the year.
What’s being done
The Salish sucker is listed as endangered and protected under the Species at Risk Act (SARA). The fish is also protected by the federal Fisheries Act.
Restoration and recovery plans are being developed. The species’ habitat is being studied and research is being conducted on Salish sucker populations to determine their status. Researchers have assisted one gravel-pit operator with a fish habitat restoration project. The Salish sucker also benefited from the Urban Salmon Habitat Program in the Georgia Basin area. Other projects will be initiated in the Lower Fraser Valley that will address the decline in suitable Salish sucker habitat due to urbanization.
What can you do?
The Salish sucker will get the protection it needs only if all Canadians work together to reduce threats. Find out more about the Salish sucker and be aware of man-made threats. Do your best to reduce these threats wherever possible to better protect the Salish sucker’s critical habitat. Get involved with the Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk (HSP) or another conservation organization.
Background information provided by Environment Canada in March 2004.
