Pantosteus

{{Short description|Genus of fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{fossil range|11.5|0|Middle Miocene to present}} | image = Desert Sucker.JPG | image_caption = Desert sucker (''P. clarkii'') | taxon = Pantosteus | authority = Cope, 1875 }}

'''''Pantosteus''''', the '''mountain suckers''', is a genus of North American freshwater ray-finned fish in the family Catostomidae.<ref name="CofF">{{Cof genus|genus=Pantosteus|access-date=24 May 2025}}</ref> Long treated as a subgenus of ''Catostomus'', phylogenetic evidence has found them to a form a monophyletic group that diverged from other members of ''Catostomus'' during the Miocene, and they are thus treated better as a distinct genus.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Unmack |first1=Peter J. |last2=Dowling |first2=Thomas E. |last3=Laitinen |first3=Nina J. |last4=Secor |first4=Carol L. |last5=Mayden |first5=Richard L. |last6=Shiozawa |first6=Dennis K. |last7=Smith |first7=Gerald R. |date=2014-03-11 |title=Influence of Introgression and Geological Processes on Phylogenetic Relationships of Western North American Mountain Suckers (Pantosteus, Catostomidae) |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=9 |issue=3 |article-number=e90061 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0090061 |doi-access=free |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=3949674 |pmid=24619087|bibcode=2014PLoSO...990061U }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Gerald R. |last2=Stewart |first2=Joseph D. |last3=Carpenter |first3=Nathan E. |date=2013-05-30 |title=Fossil And Recent Mountain Suckers, Pantosteus, And Significance Of Introgression In Catostomin Fishes Of Western United States |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/122717 |journal=Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology |hdl=2027.42/122717 |language=en-US}}</ref>

They are native to mountainous regions of western North America, from southern Canada to north-central Mexico. They are primarily found in the Interior West, where they are known from the Black Hills, Rocky Mountains,parts of the Sierra Madre Occidental, much of the Great Basin, and parts of the Cascade Range. However, a single isolated species (the Santa Ana sucker) is found west of the Cascades, in the San Gabriel Mountains.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Corona-Santiago |first1=Diushi Keri |last2=Domínguez-Domínguez |first2=Omar |last3=Tovar-Mora |first3=Llanet |last4=Pardos-Blas |first4=José Ramón |last5=Herrerías-Diego |first5=Yvonne |last6=Pérez-Rodríguez |first6=Rodolfo |last7=Doadrio |first7=Ignacio |date=2018-11-20 |title=Historical biogeography reveals new independent evolutionary lineages in the Pantosteus plebeius-nebuliferus species-group (Actinopterygii: Catostomidae) |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |language=en |volume=18 |issue=1 |page=173 |doi=10.1186/s12862-018-1286-y |doi-access=free |issn=1471-2148 |pmc=6245702 |pmid=30453887|bibcode=2018BMCEE..18..173C }}</ref>

''Pantosteus'' species tend to be smaller than those in ''Catostomus''. They inhabit cool, fast-flowing streams located in high-elevation environments.<ref name=":0" />

== Taxonomy == The following species are placed in this genus:<ref name="CofF" />

* ''Pantosteus bondi'' (G. R. Smith, J. D. Stewart & N. E. Carpenter, 2013) (Cordilleran sucker)<ref name="Smith201322">Smith, G.R., Stewart, J.D. & Carpenter, N.E. (2013): Fossil and recent mountain suckers, ''Pantosteus'', and significance of introgression in catostomin fishes of Western United States. ''Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology University of Michigan, 743: 1-59.''</ref> * ''Pantosteus clarkii'' (Baird & Girard, 1854) (Desert sucker) ** ''P. c. intermedius'' (Tanner, 1942) (White River desert sucker) ** ''P. c. utahensis'' (Tanner, 1932) (Virgin River desert sucker) ** ''P. c.'' "unnamed" (Meadow Valley Wash desert sucker) * ''Pantosteus discobolus'' (Cope, 1871) (bluehead sucker) * ''Pantosteus jarrovii'' (Cope, 1874) (Zuni bluehead sucker) * ''Pantosteus jordani'' Evermann, 1893 (Plains sucker) * ''Pantosteus lahontan'' Rutter, 1903 (Lahontan sucker) * ''Pantosteus nebuliferus'' (Garman, 1881) (Nazas sucker) * ''Pantosteus platyrhynchus'' (Cope, 1874) (Mountain sucker) * ''Pantosteus plebeius'' (Baird & Girard, 1854) (Rio Grande sucker) * ''Pantosteus santaanae'' Snyder, 1908 (Santa Ana sucker) * ''Pantosteus virescens'' Cope, 1875 (Green sucker) ''Catostomus columbianus'' was also previously placed in ''Pantosteus'', and appears to have undergone some hybridization with ''Pantosteus'' in the past. However, treating it as a member of ''Pantosteus'' makes the genus ''Catostomus'' paraphyletic, and it thus continues to be treated as a member of ''Catostomus''.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

The following fossil species are also known:<ref name=":1" />

* †''Pantosteus asitus'' (Smith, Stewart & Carpenter, 2013) - Early Pliocene of Nevada, US (White Narrows Formation) * †''Pantosteus arenatus'' (Miller & Smith, 1967) - Late Pliocene of Idaho, US (Glenns Ferry Formation) * †''Pantosteus hyomyzon'' (Smith, Stewart & Carpenter, 2013) - Middle Miocene to Late Miocene of Oregon and Washington, US (Juntura Formation, Drewsey Formation and Ellensburg Formation) * †''Pantosteus oromyzon'' (Smith, Stewart & Carpenter, 2013) - Early Pliocene of Idaho, US (Glenns Ferry Formation)

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:Catostomidae Category:Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope Category:Cypriniformes genera