Spawning sucker with 'horns'

What looked like “horns” on a sucker in a viral fishing clip were most likely breeding tubercles, temporary hard bumps that males grow during the spring spawn. State fish agencies describe those bumps as “nuptial tubercles” or breeding tubercles, and they show up on male suckers’ heads, fins, and sometimes bodies when fish move into spawning condition. New Hampshire Fish and Game says male white suckers grow coarse tubercles on their fins during spawning, while Connecticut says males develop raised, horny bumps on their heads. The color change in the clip also fits spawning season. Massachusetts says breeding male white suckers develop a gold back and a scarlet or black stripe along their sides in spring, and New Hampshire says males become reddish along the sides during spawning. This is the time of year when anglers are most likely to see it. Massachusetts places white sucker spawning in mid-April to May, and Iowa says spawning begins with spring runs and happens in flowing water over gravel or rubble when water reaches 57 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Suckers are not just changing color in place; they are moving. Connecticut says suckers typically migrate up streams in early spring to spawn, and Michigan Sea Grant says some species leave deep Great Lakes water for tiny creeks so shallow their backs can stick out of the water. The bumps are part of reproduction, not a deformity. Massachusetts says male white suckers use large tubercles on the tail and anal fins for territory defense during reproduction, and a 2022 review describes nuptial tubercles as keratinized structures that form on body parts likely to contact females during courtship and spawning. Different sucker species can look even stranger than the fish in the clip. A creek chubsucker profile from Boneyard Creek says spawning males develop three horn-like tubercles on each side of the face, while New Hampshire says male longnose suckers turn reddish and grow horny tubercles on their fins during spawning season. The spring runs also pull in other wildlife and fish. Massachusetts says white sucker migrations create energy transfer to aquatic and terrestrial organisms, and Iowa lists northern pike, muskellunge, walleye, sauger, largemouth bass, and smallmouth bass among the predators that feed on them. So the “horned” fish in the video was not a new species or a mutant catch. It was a male sucker in breeding dress, showing the short-lived bumps and colors that appear when spring spawning runs hit creeks and shoals.