Alabama Hogsucker
The Alabama Hogsucker (Hypentelium etowanum), a freshwater ray-finned fish in the Catostomidae family of suckers. Native to the south-eastern United States.
Description of the Alabama Hogsucker
The Alabama Hogsucker may be considered a medium sized fish. While being a slender bodied minnow with a large, rectangular, bony head and a slightly concaved dent existing between the eyes.
Generally, have light to dark charcoal bodies and cream to white bellies, with mottled charcoal and cream sides. Reach from 9 to twelve inches in length.
Four or five dark crossbar saddles occur on their sides with horizontal pale stripes joined across the dorsal midline. The broadest band occurs behind the head. Meanwhile two narrower bands occur beneath the dorsal fin and two behind it.
While the color of their fins range from orange, red to cream mottled with charcoal brown hues. Their large heads seem wider than their tapering bodies ending with a forked tail.
They have highly protrusible lips covered with bumps. While their eyes seem much closer to the rear edge of the gill cover then to the tip of their snout. Generally, the dorsal fin consists of ten soft rays.
Biology of the Alabama Hogsucker
Inhabit clear water with rocky or gravel substrates in riffles, creeks, and streams. Generally, a bottom dwelling fish that prefers moderate or fast currents over gravel, cobble of sand substrates.
Distribution
Occurs in the Chattahoochee River, Mobile Bay Drainages, and Etowah River in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Georgia.
Management and Conservation
The Alabama Hogsucker has a very limited range. While populations appear relatively large and stable, and often divided into many subpopulations.
Therefore, the species listing affords little or no conservation with populations not considered threatened or endangered. Furthermore, no major threats exist to this species.