Carpiodes cyprinus
Quillback
(Also: quillback carpsucker)

Quillback carpsuckers are found throughout much of eastern North America as far north as Saskatchewan, south to Florida and as far west as South Dakota, Kansas and Alabama. ("Nature Serve", 2005)

Quillback carpsuckers have also been introduced in Mexico where they have established a reproducing population. (Page and Burr, 2005)

Quillback carpsuckers prefer to live in highly productive streams that are moderately deep and clear. Quillback carpsuckers prefer clear water over highly turbid waters, unlike other carpsuckers, but are highly adaptable to slow moving streams. They are also found in lakes (and their tributaries) including the Great Lakes. (Mayhew, 1987)

Quillback carpsuckers have a deeply compressed body giving them a flattened appearance when viewed from the side. They have large silvery scales and greater than or equal to 37 lateral line scales. Silver scales give them a silver coloration from the side fading to a dark color dorsally. Quillback carpsuckers are distinguished from other carpsuckers by their long first dorsal ray which does not extend beyond the posterior base of the dorsal fin. The first dorsal fin is up to five times longer than the posterior dorsal rays, total number of dorsal rays is usually greater than 28. They have an average of seven anal rays. They have a typical sucker mouth and, when viewed from the side, the back of the mouth does not extend past the anterior portion of the eye. Quillback carpsuckers have a deeply forked caudal fin. ("PA Chapter 12 Suckers", 2005; Etnier and Starnes, 1993)

The largest recorded quillback carpsucker was caught in Nebraska on the Missouri River by Patrick Fox Jr. on June 3, 2001, weighing 6.18 kg (13 lbs. 10 oz.) and measuring 71.2 cm (28 inches) in length. ("Hotspot Fishing", 2005)

Quillback carpsuckers are open substrate spawners and hatch from an unguarded spawning area where eggs are released by the female and fertilized by the male (or males). Once eggs are fertilized they take 8-12 days to hatch. ("PA Chapter 12 Suckers", 2005)

Growth averages 7 to 9 cm (3 to 4 inches) per year in the younger ages to about 2 to 4 cm (1 to 1 1/2) inches each year for older specimens. A six year-old quillback carpsucker would be about 31 cm (12 inches) in length and weigh slightly over 450 g (one pound). Quillback carpsuckers are a long-lived species, with fish as old as 11 years found in populations. (Mayhew, 1987)

Male and female quillback carpsuckers make a run, or migration, to their spawning areas where they release eggs and sperm in shallow water over gravelly riffles, sand or mud. ("PA Chapter 12 Suckers", 2005)

Female quillback carpsuckers release several hundred thousand eggs which are scattered haphazardly in shallow water. An average of 64,000 eggs are produced by six year old-female quillbacks (Mayhew 1987). Quillbacks achieve independence almost immediately after hatching. (Mayhew, 1987)

Female quillbacks have a pre-fertilization investment similar to other open substrate non-guarding fishes. Females begin developing eggs internally long before hatch which requires energy. Pre-fertilization investment of males is much less than that of females. Neither sex has any apparent parental involvement after fertilization. The eggs are not guarded and they are left to develop and hatch on their own.

Mortality is high among the eggs, fry and young fish because they provide forage for predatory fish. Among adult quillback carpsuckers mortality is 60 to 70 percent annually. ("PA Chapter 12 Suckers", 2005)

Quillback carpsuckers feed and reproduce in schools. Because they do not build nests to reproduce they travel in groups releasing eggs and sperm haphazardly. They also travel and feed in groups similar to other schooling fishes. (Mayhew, 1987)

Adult quillback carpsuckers migrate, usually upstream, during reproduction. The exact distance of spawning migration is unknown, but likely dependent on specific location. Quillback carpsuckers, like most other fishes, generally return to their pre-spawn home range after reproduction. ("PA Chapter 12 Suckers", 2005)

Quillback carpsuckers use visual and tactile cues to perceive their environment, as do most other fish. Little else is known about perception or intraspecific communication.

Quillback carpsuckers prefer to feed on the bottoms of lakes, rivers and streams; specifically they prefer clear, bottom water. They seek aquatic insect larvae and other small organisms such as mollusks, fingernail clams and aquatic vegetation. ("PA Chapter 12 Suckers", 2005)

Mortality is high among eggs, fry and young fish because they provide forage for predatory fish. An anti-predator adaptation is the production of several thousand eggs per breeding season to ensure the survival of some offspring. Adult quillbacks are usually not preyed upon due to their size and their schooling behavior. ("PA Chapter 12 Suckers", 2005)

Quillback carpsuckers are bottom feeders and, like other bottom feeders, they help to keep their ecosystem clean by feeding on bottom matter.

Quillback carpsuckers are a minor commercial fish in the United States with little or no economic benefit to fishermen. Quillback carpsuckers introduced to Mexico however provide an important economic benefit to the northeastern portion of that country. (Page and Burr, 2005)

This species has no known negative economic effects on humans.

Quillback carpsuckers are critically imperiled in Vermont; imperiled in New York and Michigan; vulnerable in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and North Carolina. Populations seem to be stable in Wyoming, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Georgia, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ontario, Iowa, Illinois, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Manitoba and the District of Columbia. Ohio, South Carolina, Florida, Missouri, Minnesota and North Dakota have not ranked Carpiodes cyprinus. ("Nature Serve", 2005)