Santa Ana suckers rely on perennial flows with suitable water quality and substrate to support breeding, feeding and sheltering. Over different life history stages, suckers depend on a variety of coarse substrate types, such as gravel, cobble, or mixtures of gravel or cobble with sand, and a variety of riverine features, like shallow riffles and deeper runs and pools.

The Santa Ana sucker has large lips and a small mouth. The downward orientation and anatomy of its mouth-parts enable it to vacuum, or suck up, algae, invertebrates and other organic matter.

Measurements
Length: Adults average 6 in

Adult Santa Ana suckers have dark, blotchy backs with silvery colored undersides.

Historically, the Santa Ana sucker occupied upper watershed areas of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains down to the Pacific Ocean. At present, the Santa Ana sucker is found in three disjunct populations that occupy portions of the San Gabriel, Los Angeles, and Santa Ana River basins in Southern California. Santa Ana suckers rely on perennial flows with suitable water quality and substrate to support breeding, feeding, and sheltering. Over different life history stages, suckers depend on a variety of coarse substrate types, such as gravel, cobble, or mixtures of gravel or cobble with sand, and a variety of riverine features, such as shallow riffles and deeper runs and pools. It was listed as threatened in 2000, and ongoing threats to the species include isolation, and habitat loss, alteration, and degradation associated with significant changes in the hydrology of rivers and streams.  

The Santa Ana sucker has large lips and a small mouth. The downward orientation and anatomy of its mouth-parts enable it to ‘vacuum’ algae, invertebrates and other organic matter. Adults average about six inches long and have dark, blotchy backs with silvery colored undersides. Spawning occurs between mid-March to early-July, with peak activity in April. 

Spawning occurs between mid-March to early-July, with peak activity in April.