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| NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species |
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Common Name: suckermouth minnow
Taxonomy: available through 
Identification: Becker (1983); Hubbs et al. (1991); Page and Burr (1991); Etnier and Starnes (1993); Pflieger (1997).
Size: 12 cm.
Native Range:
Mississippi River basin from Ohio and West Virginia to Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, and from southeastern Minnesota to northern Alabama and southern Oklahoma; western Lake Erie drainage, Ohio; isolated populations in Gulf Coast drainages (Sabine Lake, Louisiana and Texas, Galveston Bay, Texas, Colorado River, Texas, and upper Pecos River, New Mexico) (Page and Burr 1991).
Nonindigenous Occurrences: This species has been recorded from (and possibly introduced into) Lake Erie tributaries of Michigan (Bailey and Smith 1992); the Pecos River (Pecos drainage) and the Dry Cimarron River (Canadian drainage) in New Mexico (Sublette et al. 1990); and Buckeye Lake in the Muskingum River drainage (Ohio River basin) and Lake Erie of Ohio (Trautman 1981; Mills et al. 1993).
Means of Introduction: Unknown; possibly the result of bait bucket releases.
Status: Reported from Michigan and New Mexico. Apparently established in Buckeye Lake, Ohio (Trautman 1981).
Impact of Introduction: Unknown.
Remarks: It is not certain if the records of this species from Michigan and parts of Ohio represent introductions or were simply the result of natural dispersal. Phenacobius mirabilis is native to a large part of Ohio; however, Trautman (1981) stated that the population in Buckeye Lake, Ohio, "possibly had been introduced inadvertently from the bait buckets of fishermen." The suckermouth minnow did not occur in Michigan, or Ohio and West Virginia for that matter, before the early 1900s; natural eastward dispersal of the species has been rapid, and has occurred as a result of increased water turbidity and siltation following conversion of the prairies to farming. These changes have apparently benefited the suckermouth minnow as well as a few other native fishes. In the list of Michigan fishes given Bailey and Smith (1992), Phenacobius mirabilis was denoted as one of several fishes "established through the direct or indirect intervention of humans." However, these authors provided no additional details. We interpreted the words of Bailey and Smith (1992) to mean that the species was introduced to Michigan. Nevertheless, the authors may have simply meant that P. mirabilus spread naturally into Michigan as a result of human farming practises and other human-induced changes to the aquatic environment. In their summary table on fishes of the Great Lakes basin, Bailey and Smith (1981) indicated that Phenacobius mirabilis had colonized tributaries of Lake Erie recently via canal or by natural dispersal following introduction. Hubbs and Lagler (1958) and Underhill (1986) made no mention of the possible introduction of this species into the northern United States. Hocutt et al. (1986), apparently based on Cavender and Ciola (1981), stated that it was one of several species that invaded the Muskingum River drainage since 1930. However, in their summary table on fishes of the Central Appalachians and Central Atlantic Coastal Plain, Hocutt et al. (1986) listed Phenacobius mirabilis as native to the Muskingum drainage.
Mills, E.L., J.H. Leach, J.T. Carlton, and C.L. Secor. 1993. Exotic species in the Great Lakes: a history of biotic crises and anthropogenic introductions. J. Great Lakes Research. 19(1): 1-54.
Other Resources:
Great Lakes Water Life
FishBase Fact Sheet
Author: Leo Nico
Contributing Agencies: 
NOAA - GLERL
Revision Date: 8/26/2004 Citation for this information:
Leo Nico. 2009. Phenacobius mirabilis. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL.
<http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=617> Revision Date: 8/26/2004
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