Visit the Utah Lake Exhibit
Monday – Saturday 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Adult: $5.00 / Child: $4.00
The Live June Sucker Aquarium Exhibit
Come meet these endemic (of a plant or animal native and restricted to a certain place) fish.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service listed the June sucker as an endangered species in 1986. After a century of carp introduction, pollution from human waste, industry, and dumping, these fish simply were not going to survive without human intervention.
June Suckers are a large part of the diet of many of the birds that use Utah Lake shores, Bird Island, and the surrounding fields as a main food source. The declining population of June Suckers directly endangers these birds and their offspring.
Common Name: June Sucker Scientific Name:Chasmistes liorus
History
Over 1000 years ago, Native Fremont people live near the lake and depend on its native fish for food. In 1776, Father Silvestre Velez de Escalante arrives to the valley, meets the local Ute tribe, and is considered to be the first European to see the lake.
When European settlers began arriving in 1847, Native Americans showed them how to catch, dry, and survive on the fish of Utah Lake. While it saved them from starving, it soon led to overfishing and the depletion of June Suckers in Utah Lake.
Utah Lake was home to millions of June Suckers along with 12 other fish species. Of those 13 species, only June sucker and Utah sucker still inhabit the lake, now alongside several non-native species.
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