Sucker (fish)

“ It only makes use of the sucker at intervals; at other times, swimming around the object it attends, and looking out for prey of its own choice, and on its own account. While swimming it propels itself by rapid lateral movements of the tail, executed awkwardly and with a tortuous motion.
It is itself preyed upon by other fish,—diodons and albacores; but the shark is merciful to it, as to the pilot-fish, and never interferes with it.
Sucking-fish are occasionally seen of a pure white colour associating with the black ones, and also attending upon the shark. ”

“ They can then be taken by a hook and line, baited with a piece of flesh; and they will seize the bait when let down in the stillest water. In order to secure them, however, it is necessary, after they have been hooked, to jerk them quickly out of the water; else they will swim rapidly to the side of the ship, and fix their sucker so firmly against the wood, as to defy every attempt to dislodge them.
There are two well-known species of sucking-fish,—the common one described, and another of larger size, found in the Pacific, the Echeneis australis. ”

“ The sucker fish has quite strong powers of adhesion. In the ordinary course of its life it attaches itself to sharks or other large fishes and enjoys a free ride until it comes across food. When used for fishing, it is fastened with a line around its tail and tethered to the canoe. ”

“ There is another (strictly speaking) parasite which attends the shark—the sucker-fish, about sixteen inches long, which fastens itself on to him by a curious patch at the back of its head, not unlike the sole of an India-rubber shoe: this adheres with such force that a strong man can hardly drag the fish away when it has thus fastened itself to the deck. Sometimes twelve or fifteen of them may be seen hanging on to one shark. ”

“ When the sucker finds itself in the vicinity of any large floating body, such as a ship, a shark, or a piece of flotsam, whose neighbourhood seems to promise an abundance of food, it attaches itself firmly thereto by means of this curious contrivance, which permits it to eat, breathe, and perform all necessary functions while being carried about without any exertion on its part. It can attach and detach itself instantaneously, and holds so firmly that a direct backward pull cannot dislodge it without injury to the fish. ”

“ According to Fabricius, the male Lump Sucker, a British fish of grotesque form, but of brilliant colours, keeps watch over the spawn when laid by the female, and defends it with the utmost courage. Even the ferocious and formidable Wolf-fish approaches the nest at the risk of his life, for the Sucker, though so much smaller, and far more feebly armed, is yet able to infix its teeth in its adversary's throat, and inflict a mortal wound. If driven away by man, he does not go far, but is continually looking back, and soon returns. ”

“ Flies and other insects, that walk along so well on the ceiling and on smooth glass, have suckers on their feet, that work very [3043] much in the same way that the boy’s sucker does upon the stone. Some fishes have suckers by which they can stick to rocks or any thing else. In this case, it is water that makes the pressure instead of air. Here is the drawing of a fish that has a sucker, or, rather, a set of suckers, on the upper part of its head. ”

“ There is, for example, the well-known Lump-sucker, or Lump-fish, which has the ventral fins modified into a sucker so powerful that, when one of these fishes has been put into a pail of water, it has attached itself so firmly to the bottom of the vessel that when lifted by the tail it raised the pail, together with several gallons of water. ”

“ When determined to secure a sucker whose haunt they have discovered, the blacks will feed it at intervals for a day or two to overcome its nervous apprehension. In other localities along the coast the fish is plentiful and by no means shy, taking bait ravenously.
Having secured the sucker, the blacks farm it in their haphazard fashion. They fasten a line above the forked tall so securely that it cannot slip, nor be likely to readily cut through the skin, and tether it in shallow water, when it usually attaches itself to the bottom of the canoe. ”

“ Haldeman and other Kentucky gentlemen who had winter residences at Naples.
Another jewfish, a tropical species (Promicrops itaiara) , growing even larger than the one named, is also found in Florida waters.
Catching Suckers
I do not mean the universal and ubiquitous sucker so well known from Maine to [160] California, but the so-called shark-sucker, suckfish or remora. Perhaps every genuine American boy has exercised his proud privilege of catching suckers in the glad springtime, and some have doubtless continued the sport in later life in Wall Street and other similar fishing localities. ”

“ The sucker is a fish found in all the fresh waters of the Northern States, it is usually caught with angleworm bait, and in the winter, fishing through the ice, it is more easily caught than any other. The carp is a comparatively recent importation from Europe, and is now found in most of the Eastern waters, as well as in California and Oregon. It haunts muddy waters. The chub, honeyhead, or river-chub is widely distributed in fresh waters, and may easily be caught by means of the same rod and tackle that is used for black bass. The grayling affords exceptionally fine sport. ”

“ Through these apertures issue numerous sucker-like feet, closely resembling those of the Star-fish, but endowed with far greater powers of contraction and extension.
The number of suckers is very great. In an Urchin measuring exactly three inches in diameter, by aid of a hand lens, I counted no less than 3300 pores in the ten avenues. Now, these pores are always situated in pairs, and as each sucker occupies a pair of pores, it will give 1650 as the total amount of suckers. ”

“ TURTLE AND SUCKERS Generally unprogressive and uninventive, the aboriginals of the coast of North Queensland apply practically the result of the observation of a certain fact in the life-history of a fish in obtaining food. By them the sucker (REMORA) is not regarded as an interesting example of a fish which depends largely upon turtle, dugong, sharks and porpoises for locomotion, but as a ready means of effecting the capture of the two first-mentioned animals, always eagerly hunted for their flesh. ”

“ The blue sucker was taken rarely in the Neosho River and not at all in the Marais des Cygnes in my study. Cross (personal com [Pg 375] munication) obtained several blue suckers in collections made in the mainstream of the Neosho River in 1952; both young and adults occupied swift, deep riffles. The species seemingly declined in abundance during the drought, and at the conclusion of my study (1959) had not regained the level of abundance found in 1952. ”

“ Though the lump-fishes are poor swimmers, and likely, if hurled among the breakers, to be thrown upon the shore, nature has provided them with ample means of protection. The lower fins join in such a way as to form a complete sucker, so that when in danger of being knocked about by the waves, the fish has merely to settle upon a rock, fasten its sucker-like fins to this, and ride out the gale or season of danger like a ship at anchor on a lee shore. ”

“ The Common Sucker has a toothless, sucking mouth, its food being chiefly vegetable.
In springtime the Sucker ascends the brooks to spawn, but lives generally in schools at the bottom of rivers and ponds. It rarely takes the hook. ”

“ The number of the suckers varies, but is always considerable; and when we reflect that the array of suckers can be instantaneously applied, and that their hold is automatically perfect, the grasp of the cephalopods is seen to be of the most efficient kind. In some cuttle-fishes, and most notably in the so-called "hooked squids" (Onychoteuthis) , the pistons of the suckers are developed to form powerful hooks, by means of which the prey may be secured with additional facility; and in the common squids the margin of the sucker is provided with a series of minute horny hooks. ”

“ At the pulling of the gill-net the next morning there was not as large a catch as the boys had hoped for; still what fish they did get were of good size and of the very best quality. There were six succoteague, weighing from two to four pounds each, one blue-fish, four scup and a striped bass. ”

“ They feed on plants and small water-animals. The common or white sucker reaches a length of 18 inches, and is very abundant in streams from Canada to Montana and Florida. They are eaten, but the flesh is rather tasteless and bony. ”

“ One of its great recommendations is its lightness; no imitation bait that falls with a loud splash into the water can do other than terrify the timid trout; and to make casting a pleasure, the rod must be delicate, which cannot be if the bait is heavy. The squid is usually supposed to be the original imitation of a minnow, and has held a prominent place among the angler’s delusions for many years; in bass-fishing, in trolling for blue-fish, and even for lake trout, it is worthy of all praise. ”

“ A few velvet scoters may always be seen among the immense flocks of the common kind. In haunt and habit, as well as food, the common and velvet scoters are identical. The surf scoter is the rarest of the three British species, and is intermediate in size between the two last. With black plumage like its congeners, it is characteristically marked by a white spot on the forehead and an elongated white streak down the neck. The roughest seas have no terror to the surf scoter, and it is such an expert diver as to be able to fish at a depth of several fathoms. ”

“ They lie poised in the water, with all fins spread, strutting like turkey-cocks, snapping at worms and little crustaceans and insects whose only business in the brook is that the fishes may eat them. When the time comes, the sunfish makes its nest in the fine gravel, building it with some care—for a fish. When the female has laid her eggs the male stands guard till the eggs are hatched. His sharp teeth and snappish ways, and the bigness of his appearance when the fins are all displayed, keep the little fishes away. Sometimes, in his zeal, he snaps at a hook baited with a worm. ”

“ Those great arms, which sometimes grow to a length of several feet, he uses to wrap around his prey, and they are strong and tough. He has two eyes and a little mouth, and is about as pugnacious a fish as is to be found anywhere. If I should ever haul a Cuttle-fish into my boat, I think I should feel very much like getting out, no matter how deep the water might be.
There was once a sea captain, who was walking on a beach with some of his men, when he spied one of these Cuttle-fish, travelling over the sand towards the water. ”

“ For bass, it is true, the natural squid is far more tempting, but this queer monstrosity is difficult to obtain, and its substitute has often captured enormous fish; for blue-fish{275} no other bait is ordinarily used, and for lake-trout the ivory squid can hardly be surpassed. The ordinary kinds are of lead, pewter, bone, which are often hollow, and admit the insertion of a large hook; and of pearl, the latter in its most killing shape having flanges and spinning like the minnow. ”

“ It is an eager biter at angle-worms, which is the bait par excellence of juvenile anglers, who greatly enjoy fishing for "sunnies." The only tackle needed is a light cane rod, very fine line, and small hooks, Nos. 6 or 8, split-shot sinker, and, of course, a float, for no boy would care to fish without a "bob" or "cork." Half of the pleasure of the young angler is in watching the float.
But the fly-fisher may also obtain sport to his liking with a rod of a few ounces' weight and midge flies on No. 10 hooks, for at the close of the day the long-eared sunfish rises well. ”

“ Snapper-fishing is not bad sport, as they bite freely. They go in immense shoals, and it is not an uncommon thing to catch twenty-hundred weight at a single haul. When H.M.S. Challenger was lying in Cockburn Sound, some of the men with a very large seine-net, caught two thousand fish at a single haul—averaging five pounds a-piece. ”

“ All parts of the squid are cut up, and used as bait; what is not required the next day is thrown away or given to the pigs. In the northern district, between Cape Freels and Cape St. John, the fishing spots are at Robin’s Cave Head, and Friday’s Bay, on the anchorage ground. The fishing takes place about sun-down. The squid is of an oval form, and resembles somewhat our cuttle-fish, but it has no solid bone. The length of the body is from eight inches to a foot, and it is about two inches in diameter. ”

“ These are so slender that they generally lie coiled up in a spiral cone in two pockets, one on each side, just below the eye, when the animal is quiescent, and are only seen when it takes its food. These long, slender tentacular arms are expanded at their extremity, and the inner surface of their enlarged part is studded with suckers—some of them larger in size than those on the eight shorter arms. As the food of these swimmers consists, of course, chiefly of fish, their sucking disks are curiously modified for the better retention of a slippery captive. ”

“ No sinker or float is required, as the bait must be kept near the surface. Menhaden or minnows, shedder-crab, lobster, bloodworms, clam, and shrimp are all good natural baits. A small spinner, or a small mother-of-pearl squid, if reeled in rapidly, often proves very taking; also a large, gaudy fly, as the red ibis, soldier, silver doctor, Jock Scott, royal coachman, etc., can be used with good effect when the fish are running strongly and in goodly numbers. ”