Waters with Summer Suckers in the Adirondack Region of New York

Douglas M. Carlson^1,* and Carl A. St. John²

¹Department of Biology, SUNY Potsdam, Potsdam, NY 13676. ²Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850. *Corresponding author.

Northeastern Naturalist, Volume 32, Issue 2 (2025): 217–224

First published early online: 24 May 2025

Abstract
Catostomus utawana (Summer Sucker) has been classified as a species since 2009 and is unique to the Adirondack Mountains of New York. However, recent ecological and genomic studies found it is best described as a life-history ecotype, a sub-population with genetically based adaptations to its local environment. Therefore, the Summer Sucker’s taxonomic status was revised to be synonymous with the Catostomus commersonii (White Sucker) but called a distinct ecotype (SS ecotype), and it is classified as a species of greatest conservation need. This report describes the distinguishing characteristics of the ecotype used in this study and the locations and characteristics of the 23 waters with its recent documentation as well as provides details regarding the need for more study in the 22 other waters still needing verification.

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