---
title: "White Sucker"
description: "Catostomus commersonii — Vissen. The white sucker (Catostomus commersonii) is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, though it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/white-sucker
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# White Sucker

> Catostomus commersonii — Vissen. The white sucker (Catostomus commersonii) is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, though it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico.

- Scientific name: *Catostomus commersonii*
- Category: `fish` (Vissen)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Meren en rivieren)
- iNaturalist observations: 7544
- Wikidata: [Q2942992](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2942992)
- iNaturalist taxon: [81556](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/81556)

## Names

- en: White Sucker
- es: Matalote blanco
- fr: Meunier noir

## Countries with the most observations

US (4433), CA (2435)

## Summary

The white sucker (Catostomus commersonii) is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, though it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico. The fish is commonly known as a "sucker" due to its fleshy, papillose lips that suck up organic matter and aufwuchs from the bottom of rivers and streams.
Other common names for the white sucker include bay fish, brook sucker, common sucker, and mullet. The white sucker is often confused with the longnose sucker (C. catostomus), because they look very similar.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_sucker

## Photo

![White Sucker](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/white-sucker/medium.jpg)

Photo: Edwin Wilke · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/271553000

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/white-sucker?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).