About Ictiobus niger (Rafinesque, 1819)
The black buffalo, with the scientific name Ictiobus niger (Rafinesque, 1819), is a North American species of freshwater fish belonging to the sucker family Catostomidae. It can live up to 108 years, making it one of the longest-lived freshwater fish species. Its native range spans the Mississippi Basin and southern Great Lakes. In Canada, it was first discovered at the western end of Lake Erie, and has also been recorded from Boston Creek. Within Tennessee, it occurs in rivers and streams of the Cumberland Mountains, a small number of rivers in middle Tennessee, and west Tennessee along the Mississippi River. I. niger has a ventrally positioned mouth, which leads to a benthic-oriented diet, and feeds mostly from the bottom. Its body shape and mouth position are intermediate between the related species I. bubalus and I. cyprinellus. It can only be distinguished from I. bubalus with some difficulty, by its smaller relative eye size and more streamlined body shape, and relies more heavily on benthic organisms than I. bubalus. While the ecology of I. niger is quite similar to that of I. bubalus, it is also noted to be most closely related ecologically to I. cyprinellus. Across eastern North America, I. niger lives in large and small rivers from the Mississippi Basin into Canada, where it was first described from Lake Erie. In the United States, it occurs in small and large rivers in the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio basins, as well as in southern Lake Michigan and Lake Erie. Its native distribution in the U.S. includes states such as Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, eastern Texas, and Oklahoma. Asiatic clam is the principal food of I. niger; detritus and sand are also ingested, making up roughly 40% of the species' dietary volume. I. niger is most commonly found in quiet, shallow waters. The U.S. angling record for the species is a 55.5 lb (25.2 kg) individual caught in Tennessee in 1984. Its typical length is around 20–30 in (51–76 cm), with a recorded maximum length of 48.5 in (123 cm). The species' typical weight is estimated at 10–30 lb (4.5–13.6 kg). A valid 80 lb (36 kg) specimen was caught in Shelby County, Tennessee, on April 1, 1980.
