Suckers are a family of stout (though some are more streamlined) freshwater fishes some of which occasionally wander into low salinity areas of the bays. Most live in rivers but can be found in any freshwater environment. Their lips are thick and fleshy and are found on the undersides of their head. Their mouths have no teeth, but their throat has a single row of 16-190 teeth used to grind food against a roughened base plate. Young fishes have mouths at the tip of their snout and eat plankton. As they mature, the mouth migrates to the bottom of the head, and they become bottom feeders. They are generally not considered a good table food and usually are not targeted by recreational anglers. |