{{Short description|Species of fish}} {{About|the species of fish|other uses|Black Buffalo (disambiguation)}}

{{Speciesbox | image = Ictiobus niger.jpg | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name = iucn>{{Cite journal | author = NatureServe | title = ''Ictiobus niger'' | journal = The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species | volume = 2013 | page = e.T191242A18234404 | publisher = IUCN | date = 2013 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T191242A18234404.en | doi-access = free }}</ref> | taxon = Ictiobus niger | authority = (Rafinesque, 1819) | synonyms = *''Amblodon niger'' <small>Rafinesque, 1819</small> }}

The '''black buffalo''' ('''''Ictiobus niger''''') is a North American species of freshwater fish in the Catostomidae or sucker family.<ref name="ref11">* {{ITIS |id=163957 |taxon=Ictiobus niger |accessdate=6 June 2006}}.</ref> With a lifespan of up to 108 years, it is among the longest-lived of freshwater fish species.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Lackmann |first1=Alec R. |last2=Black |first2=Stuart A. |last3=Bielak-Lackmann |first3=Ewelina S. |last4=Lackmann |first4=Jeffrey A. |date=2023-10-20 |title=Centenarian lifespans of three freshwater fish species in Arizona reveal the exceptional longevity of the buffalofishes (Ictiobus) |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=17401 |doi=10.1038/s41598-023-44328-8 |issn=2045-2322|doi-access=free |pmid=37864074 |pmc=10589290 |bibcode=2023NatSR..1317401L }}</ref> Found in the Mississippi Basin and southern Great Lakes. It was first discovered in Canada in the western end of Lake Erie and has been reported from Boston Creek. The Tennessee distribution ranges from rivers and streams in the Cumberland Mountains, a few rivers in middle Tennessee, and in west Tennessee along the Mississippi River.<ref name="ref1">{{cite book|last1=Etnier|first1=D.A.|last2=Starnes|first2=W.C.|year=1993|title=The Fishes of Tennessee|edition=First|pages=276–280|location=Knoxville|publisher=The University of Tennessee Press|isbn=0-87049-711-1}}</ref> The ecology of the species is quite similar to that of ''I. bubalus''. ''I. niger'' has a ventrally positioned mouth, making the species’ diet benthic-oriented.<ref name="ref1"/> It has a distinct body shape and a mouth position that is intermediate between those of ''I. bubalus'' and ''I. cyprinellus''. It is distinguished with some difficulty from the former species by its smaller relative eye size and more streamlined body shape.<ref name="ref1"/>

==Geographic distribution== ''I. niger'' is found in large and small rivers in eastern North America from the Mississippi Basin to Canada. In Canada, the species was first described in Lake Erie.<ref name="ref2">Houston J. 1990. Status of Black Buffalo, ''I. niger'', in Canada. The Canadian Field-Naturalist 104:98–102.</ref> In the United States, the species is found in both small and large rivers in the basins of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio as well as in southern Lake Michigan and Lake Erie.<ref name="ref2"/> Among others, it is native to Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota; more southern states include eastern Texas and Oklahoma.

==Ecology== The ecology of ''I. niger'' is most closely related to ''I. cyprinellus''. Due to the ventrally positioned mouth, the diet is benthic-oriented, with the Asiatic clam being the principal food. Detritus and sand are also ingested and contribute about 40% of the dietary volume.<ref name="ref3">Ross, Stephen T., W.M. Brenneman, W.T. Slack, M.T. O'Connell, T.L. Peterson. 2001. The Inland Fishes of Mississippi. (1st ed.) pp. 278–279. University Press of Mississippi.</ref> It is most commonly found in quiet, shallow waters. The U.S. angling record is {{convert|55.5|lb|kg|abbr=on}} and was caught in Tennessee in 1984.<ref name="ref3"/> The typical length is about {{convert|20|-|30|in|cm|abbr=on}} with a maximum length of {{convert|48.5|in|cm|abbr=on}}. The typical weight is estimated to be about {{convert|10|-|30|lb|kg|abbr=on}}. A specimen caught in Shelby County, Tennessee, on April 1, 1980, was accepted as valid and weighed {{convert|80|lb|kg|abbr=on}}.<ref name="ref1"/> ''I. niger'' relies on benthic organisms more heavily than ''I. bubalus.'' ''I. niger'' feeds mostly from the bottom.<ref name="ref8">{{cite journal |last1=Minckley |first1=W.L. |last2=Johnson |first2=J.E. |last3=Rinne |first3=J.N. |last4=Willoughby |first4=S.E. |year=1970 |title=Foods of Buffalofishes, Genus ''Ictiobus'', in Central Arizona Reservoirs |journal=Transactions of the American Fisheries Society |volume=99 |issue=2| pages=333–342 |doi=10.1577/1548-8659(1970)99<333:fobgii>2.0.co;2}}</ref>

==Life history== Members of ''Ictiobus'' are large, robust-bodied suckers adapted to large rivers. Currently recognized species are readily diagnosed by morphological characters, and the group is known from fossils dating back to the Miocene.<ref name="ref10">{{cite journal |last1=Bart Jr |first1=Henry L. |last2=Clements |first2=M.D. |last3=Blanton |first3=R. E. |last4=Piller |first4=K.R. |last5=Hurley |first5=D.L. |year=2010 |title=Discordant molecular and morphological evolution in buffalofishes. (Actinopterygii: Catostomidae) |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=808–820 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2010.04.029 |pmid=20433933 }}</ref> ''I. niger'' is a spring spawner. They spawn in flooded areas and backwaters of sloughs and small to large rivers.<ref name="ref4">{{cite web |title=Ictiobus niger |publisher=NatureServe |url=http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=ICTIOBUS+NIGER+ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929115221/http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=ICTIOBUS+NIGER+ |archive-date=2007-09-29|date=2007-06-28}}</ref> Fertilized eggs are demersal and adhesive.<ref>{{cite web|title=Spawning in the black buffalo, ''Ictiobus niger'' (Cypriniformes: Catostomidae)|url=https://www.tubri.org/museum/ictiobin/Black_buffalo_spawning.pdf|last1=Piller|first1=Kyle R.|last2=Bart|first2=Henry L. Jr.|last3=Tipton|first3=Jason A.|access-date=2025-12-26|website=Tulane University Museum of Natural History|date=n.d.}}</ref> They hatch in 24–36 hours at {{convert|19|-|24|C|F|abbr=on}}. ''I. niger'' grows fairly rapidly, averaging {{convert|13.4|cm|in|abbr=on}} after the first year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ictiobus_niger/|title=''Ictiobus niger''|website=Animal Diversity Web|last=Dahline|first=Cassandra|year=2014|editor-last1=Sorenson|editor-first1=Robert|editor-last2=Martina|editor-first2=Leila Siciliano|access-date=2025-12-26}}</ref> Black buffalo are reported to reach sexual maturity by the second year in the southern United States.<ref name="ref4"/> The spawning period could take days, as its duration is not well established. One report of spawning buffalofish, believed to be ''I. niger'', was made in Leflore County, Mississippi in the flood plain of the Yazoo River on April 21, 1930, when hundreds of buffalofish staged in flooded scrub along the margins of a cypress–tupelo swamp. According to observer Lee E. Yeager, the fish were insensitive to disturbance, swam into extremely shallow water not deep enough to cover their bodies and occasionally made small jumps. At three days "pale green to yellowish green" weakly aggregated egg masses were still visible, but many had been completely exposed by receding waters and turned blackish as they dried.<ref name="ref6">{{cite journal |last1=Yeager |first1=L. E. |year=1936 |title=An Observation on Spawning Buffalofish in Mississippi |doi=10.2307/1436333 |journal=Copeia |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=238–239|jstor=1436333 }}</ref> The black buffalo can live for more than a century, and thus like other buffalofish species, the black buffalo is extremely long-lived.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lackmann |first1=Alec R. |last2=Andrews |first2=Allen H. |last3=Butler |first3=Malcolm G. |last4=Bielak-Lackmann |first4=Ewelina S. |last5=Clark |first5=Mark E. |date=2019-05-23 |title=Bigmouth Buffalo ''Ictiobus cyprinellus'' sets freshwater teleost record as improved age analysis reveals centenarian longevity |journal=Communications Biology |language=En |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=197 |doi=10.1038/s42003-019-0452-0 |issn=2399-3642 |pmc=6533251 |pmid=31149641}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Montague |first1=Graham F. |last2=Schooley |first2=Jason D. |last3=Scarnecchia |first3=Dennis L. |last4=Snow |first4=Richard A. |date=August 2023 |title=Bowfishing shoot and release: High short-term mortality of nongame fishes and its management implications |journal=North American Journal of Fisheries Management |language=en |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=962–983 |doi=10.1002/nafm.10904 |bibcode=2023NAJFM..43..962M |issn=0275-5947}}</ref>

==Relationship with people== No specific plan exists for protection for this species in Canada other than the Fisheries Act. However, ''I. niger'' is listed as of special concern in Kentucky, Mississippi, South Dakota, and West Virginia. It has also been listed as protected in Wisconsin.<ref name="ref2"/> From 1957 to 1959, only seven specimens were recorded in the Ohio River. In 1968–69, only four specimens were captured.<ref name=Trautman>{{cite book |last=Trautman |first=M.B. |year=1981 |title=The Fishes of Ohio |publisher=Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data |pages=409–411}}</ref> Threats and issues include loss, bowfishing, modification or fragmentation of large river habitat caused by dams in the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers. Mistaken identity leads to the taking of this species in commercial fisheries. The exotic bighead carp shares the habitat with ''I. niger'' and consumes large amounts of zooplankton, outcompeting ''I. niger'' for needed food.<ref name="ref7">{{cite web |url=http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/wwap/explore/profiles.asp?mode=detail&species=AFCJC07030&section=threats |work=Wisconsin Wildlife Action Plan Species Profile |title=Black Buffalo |publisher=Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100616150133/http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/wwap/explore/profiles.asp?mode=detail&species=AFCJC07030&section=threats |archive-date=2010-06-16}}</ref> The IGFA all tackle world record for the species stands at 63lbs 6oz caught from the Mississippi River in Iowa in 1999.<ref>{{cite web |title=Buffalo, black |url=https://igfa.org/igfa-world-records-search/?search_type=CommonNameSummary&search_term_1=Buffalo%2C+black |website=igfa.org |publisher=International Game Fish Association |access-date=17 May 2019}}</ref>

==Management recommendations== To ensure the long life and thriving reproduction of ''I. niger,'' protection and restoration of larger river habitat is needed. Education of anglers, biologists, and the general public in taxonomy, systematics, and habitat use is needed. The species presents special difficulties, due to natural hybridization, for both research and enforcement.<ref name="ref9">{{cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=D. W. |last2=Minckley |first2=W. L. |year=1969 |title=Natural Haybridization in Buffalofishes, ''Ictiobus'' |doi=10.2307/1441719 |journal=Copeia |volume=1 |pages=198–200|jstor=1441719 }}</ref> Dams need to be equipped with fish passages to connect fragmented habitats, invasive species that compete or degrade the habitat of native fishes need to be controlled,<ref name="ref7"/> and bowfishing and commercial fishing need to be managed.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rypel |first1=Andrew L. |last2=Saffarinia |first2=Parsa |last3=Vaughn |first3=Caryn C. |last4=Nesper |first4=Larry |last5=O’Reilly |first5=Katherine |last6=Parisek |first6=Christine A. |last7=Miller |first7=Matthew L. |last8=Moyle |first8=Peter B. |last9=Fangue |first9=Nann A. |last10=Bell-Tilcock |first10=Miranda |last11=Ayers |first11=David |last12=David |first12=Solomon R. |date=December 2021 |title=Goodbye to "Rough Fish": Paradigm Shift in the Conservation of Native Fishes |journal=Fisheries |language=en |volume=46 |issue=12 |pages=605–616 |doi=10.1002/fsh.10660 |issn=0363-2415|doi-access=free |bibcode=2021Fish...46..605R }}</ref>

==References== <references/>

{{Taxonbar|from=Q136536}}

Category:Ictiobus Category:Fish described in 1819 Category:Freshwater fish of North America Category:Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque