About Lake Chubsucker
Lake chubsuckers are a small species of sucker with a dark, golden bronze colored back and upper sides with a light cream colored or white belly. The edges of their scales have dark margins giving them a cross hatched appearance over much of their body. They have an almost terminal (ending at tip of snout) mouth with only a slight down turn to it and they usually have 11-12 dorsal rays. Adults have a series of 5-8 faint dark saddles over their back and on their upper sides. Below these along their sides they have a series of blotches which can be fused into a broad and usually faint stripe. Adult males have a hooked or falcate anal fin and when breeding they have three tubercles on each side of their snout. Young chubsuckers have a distinct black stripe down their side and are often mistaken as small minnows. They also have a black leading edge to their dorsal fin. The closely related creek chubsucker can be distinguished by having a more sub-terminal (ending below tip of snout) mouth, usually 9 or 10 dorsal rays, and a slightly more elongated body. Lake chubsuckers are in the Catostomidae (suckers) family, and while they are typically 6-10 inches long, they can reach 12 inches.