White Sucker Fish

• Scientific Name: Catostomus commersonii
• Niimíipuu Name: cúuy’em (Fish)

​Description:

White Sucker Fish, despite the name, are an olive brown to black with shading to white on the under side of the fish. They are long and round-bodied with scales that increase in size from the front to the back. Their mouth faces downward, indicating it feeds from the bottom, and eat detritus and insects. Fun fact! The White Sucker’s lips are covered in taste buds.

They can grow up to 5 pounds and found in all kinds of fresh water, including muddy, clear, warm, cold, running, and standing water. Females produce over 100,000 eggs. The abundance of eggs enables them to produce large populations in a short period of time. After they sexually mature in their third year, the White Sucker spawns from April into June by moving upstream. Eggs hatch about 12 to 20 days after fertilization.

Nez Perce Fishing

The Nez Perce caught White Suckers in weirs, which is an enclosure to stakes placed in stream to trap fish. The White Suckers were highly valued as a food fish. Fishermen caught them in early spring about two months before the salmon start spawning. The bones of the White Sucker skull are not fully fused and fall apart when cooked. Storytellers gave names to these bones such as Grizzly’s earring, Raven’s socks, Stellar’s jay, Softbasket woman monster, and Cricket packing her child. The whole skull was also called Stellar’s jay.

Nez Perce Mythology:

The Nez Perce legend of Sucker and Whitefish said these fish were good friends and attended a feast together. The Sucker took a half-burned log with charcoal to use it as a spoon to sip the porridge. However, the heat from the porridge and spoon thickened the Sucker’s mouth, making their lips bulge out. Because of this, the Sucker has a thick, turned-out mouth. The Sucker told Whitefish that “it takes five pack loads to cook me, not just a little but five whole pack loads.” And therefore a Sucker also has to be cooked for a long period of time.

The White Sucker Fish (Catostomus commersonii), also called bay fish, brook sucker, common sucker, and mullet. The White Sucker live in fresh water and known for their large lips, giving them the name “sucker.” They are found in waters throughout the Midwest, including Montana. The White Sucker is often confused with the Longnose Sucker, because they both have distinctive large lips.

Sources:

Landee, D. & J. Crow (Eds.) 1997. Nez Perce Nature Guide: I am of his Land Wetes pem’ewes. Second Printing. Nez Perce Tribe.

National Park Service. White Sucker (Catostomus commersonii). Mississippi National River and Recreation Area Minnesota. April 2021. https://www.nps.gov/miss/learn/nature/white-sucker-catostomus-commersonii.htm

United States Geological Survey. White Sucker (Catostomus commersonii). April 2021. https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=346