Nutrition
Often the Northern Hog sucker can be observed eating small marine resources. Insect larvae, plant matter, snails and other small mollusks, and even a few crustaceans can all be found to be a meal. In order to get its food, it uses it's snout to overturn rocks on the bottom of streams in order to expose the organisms underneath. This has created a symbiotic relationship with other fish, such as the Small Mouth Bass, which will wait down stream of the Northern Hog sucker while it is foraging, allowing it to catch all the organisms missed by the sucker.
In terms of the areas it lives, the Northern Hog sucker is also a very important part of the food chain. While it is young, possibly still in the fertilized egg stage, minnows, daces and chubs may eat the freshly laid eggs. Once it is hatched, it can fall prey to many different species that are considered piscivorous, or mainly fish eating, species. In more northern regions it often falls prey to larger fish such as the Muskellunge or the Northern Pike.
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