Page:The fresh-water Fishes of New England (1896, Whidden).djvu/20



Length, six to eighteen inches. Body, round. Color, back, brownish gray; sides, bluish gray; belly, pink. 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.

When taken from a fresh brook the meat is good if soon cooked. It quickly becomes soft and often of a muddy taste.