The Northern Hog Sucker lives in deep riffles of small or medium sized streams that have a permanent flow of clear, cool water over rocky bottoms. They spawn in April or May at water temperatures of 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. This fish forages by sucking small organisms off the exposed surfaces of stones or overturning rocks to obtain insect larvae that live in crevices within the loose rubble.
Northern Hog Suckers now occur only in the Spring River and Shoal Creek, Cherokee County. A century ago, they were reported from the Neosho and Osage Rivers in Kansas.