You can sponsor this page

Ictiobus bubalus (Rafinesque, 1818)

Smallmouth buffalo
Upload your photos and videos
 Pictures | Google image
Image of Ictiobus bubalus (Smallmouth buffalo)
Ictiobus bubalus
Picture by The Native Fish Conservancy

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Cypriniformes (Carps) > Catostomidae (Suckers) > Ictiobinae
Etymology: Ictiobus: Greek, ichthys = fish + Greek, bous = cow (Ref. 45335); bubalus: bubalus, meaning buffalo (Ref. 10294).
More on author: Rafinesque.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; demersal. Temperate; ? - 32°C (Ref. 12741); 50°N - 26°N

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

North America: Lake Michigan drainage and Mississippi River basin from Pennsylvania and Michigan to Montana, USA and south to the Gulf of Mexico; Gulf Slope drainages from Mobile Bay in Alabama to Rio Grande in Texas and New Mexico, USA. Also in Mexico.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 112 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); common length : 58.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12193); max. published weight: 37.3 kg (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 15 years (Ref. 12193)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits pools, backwaters and main channels of small to large rivers. Also occurs in lakes and impoundments. Feeds on shellfish and algae, by grinding with the bony plates in its throat (Ref. 9988). Appears to be a good candidate for aquaculture. Marketed fresh and eaten pan-fried, broiled and baked (Ref. 9988).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Assuming same reproductive mode as in Chasmistes.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr, 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 432 p. (Ref. 5723)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 08 November 2018

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5312   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01148 (0.00847 - 0.01557), b=3.00 (2.91 - 3.09), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.0   ±0.39 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tmax=15).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (67 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 29.4 [14.7, 51.4] mg/100g; Iron = 0.449 [0.257, 0.776] mg/100g; Protein = 17.5 [15.3, 19.7] %; Omega3 = 1.16 [0.45, 2.76] g/100g; Selenium = 24.1 [9.8, 54.5] μg/100g; VitaminA = 16.9 [5.1, 51.5] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.709 [0.486, 1.060] mg/100g (wet weight);