### **Alabama Hog Sucker (*Hypentelium etowanum*)**
Identification
The Alabama Hog Sucker is a master of camouflage, perfectly evolved for life among sun-dappled river cobble. Growing to about 6–8 inches, it possesses a distinctive, blocky, "heavy-shouldered" profile. Its most diagnostic field mark is the **deeply concave space between its eyes**, creating a "bowl" on top of its large, flattened head. Look for four dark, prominent "saddles" draped across its bronze-to-olive back, which break up its outline against the rocky bottom. Unlike the more widespread Northern Hog Sucker, the Alabama species is generally smaller and features more vibrant yellowish-orange tints on its lower fins.
Habitat & Range
This is a Southeastern specialty, found almost exclusively within the **Mobile River Basin** across Alabama, Georgia, and parts of Mississippi and Tennessee. You won’t find them in stagnant ponds; they are "riffle specialists," preferring clear, fast-flowing streams with gravel or rocky substrates. They are often found positioned just behind large boulders where the current breaks.
Behaviour & Diet
Observers will notice their unique "scooting" movement. They remain motionless on the bottom, then dart forward in short, powerful bursts. They are solitary "vacuum cleaners" of the benthos, using their fleshy, papillose lips to suction onto rocks and scrape off periphyton (algae and microbes) or suck up aquatic insect larvae like mayflies and caddisflies. During the spring spawning season, they move into shallower, swifter gravel runs to broadcast their eggs.
Fascinating Fact
The Alabama Hog Sucker acts as an unwitting "provider" for the rest of the stream. As it vigorously flips over stones to find food, it kicks up a cloud of debris and displaced invertebrates. Small minnows and shiners, such as the Coosa Shiner, will often "shadow" a foraging Hog Sucker, hovering just downstream to snatch up the easy leftovers—a behavior biologists call **nuclear-follower foraging**.