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Size
4 feet (1.3 m) -
Diet
Small fish, plants, small invertebrates -
Range
North America -
Habitat
Rivers, lakes and channels
Physical Characteristics
- Coloration is bluish-green on the back, shading to coppery-blue sides and a light, bluish-grey belly.
- Deeply rounded body with a large head and a sucker-type mouth with large lips. Mouth oriented forward rather than downward, distinguishing this species from other buffalo fish.
- Maximum length of approximately 4 feet (1.3 m) and a maximum weight of 70 lbs. (32 kg).
- Its name refers to the size of its mouth in relation to other species of buffalofish.
Diet / Feeding
- Benthic feeder; diet consists of copepods, cladocerans, bottom plants, aquatic insects, small fish and fish eggs.
Range / Habitat
- Bigmouth buffalo are North American freshwater fish occurring from the Hudson Bay, the lower Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basins, and from Montana south to Louisiana. It can also be found in river basins from Ontario to Saskatchewan in Canada.
- Mainly inhabits channels, deep pools and backwaters of small to large rivers, as well as lakes and large impoundments. Often found in schools in mid-water and near the bottom.
Reproduction & Growth
- Oviparous- egg-laying species.
- Reaches sexual maturity at about three years of age.
- Spawns in the spring.
- Female scatters about 400,000 eggs over the bottom in shallow water.
Conservation Status
- “Least Concern” on the IUCN Red List.
Additional Information
- Bigmouth buffalo is similar to the smallmouth buffalo, but with a mouth that is oriented forward rather than downward.
- Males of this species reach sexual maturity in about five years and females in about 8 years.
- It spawns in the spring and the female scatters about 400,000 eggs over the bottom in shallow water.
- It is preyed upon by northern pikes, black bullheads and walleyes.
- Some individuals can live to over 100 – one study aged a bigmouth buffalofish at 127 years old!
- Bigmouth buffalofish are the oldest known freshwater teleost fish species, and they don’t display any age-related physiological decline.
Sources
- www.fishbase.org
- www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/infish/species/sucker/bmb.phtml
- www.iowadnr.com/fish/iafish/bmb-card.html
- Grzimeks Animal Life Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition. pg. 330
- Bet-hedging bigmouth buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus) recruit episodically over a 127-year timeframe in Saskatchewan
- No evidence of physiological declines with age in an extremely long-lived fish | Scientific Reports
