Smallmouth Buffalo, Ictiobus bubalus
Smallmouth Buffalo, Ictiobus bubalus. Fish caught in the Chippewa River, Wisconsin, March 2009. Length: 46 cm (18 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Josh Leisen (joshadventures.com), Gaylord, Michigan.
Smallmouth Buffalo, Ictiobus bubalus. Fish caught in the Kaskaskia River, Illinois, June 2016. Length: 51 cm (20 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).
Smallmouth Buffalo, Ictiobus bubalus. Fish caught in the Pearl River, Jackson, Mississippi, July 2019. Length: 52 cm (20 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.
The Smallmouth Buffalo, Ictiobus bubalus, is a member of the Sucker or Catostomidae Family, and is known in Mexico as matalote boquín. Globally, there are seventy-eight species in the Catostomidae Family and five species in the genus Ictiobus, of which four are found in the freshwater systems of mainland Mexico.
The Smallmouth Buffalo has a stocky and laterally compressed bodies with a depth that is 36% to 42% of standard length. They have a characteristic hump over their gill covers and a deep caudal peduncle. They are uniformly gray to copper-greenish-brown dorsally and transition to pale yellow or white ventrally. Their fins are heavily pigmented and darker toward the tips. Their head has a steep profile with large black eyes, a small distinctive sucker-type mouth, and an inferior snout. Their anal fin has 8 to 10 rays; their caudal fin is forked and symmetrical; their dorsal fin has 26 to 31 rays and is continuous with a long base and is is long at the front with a blunt point then tapers toward the caudal peduncle; and their pelvic fins are low on the body and protrude ventrally. They are covered with large smooth scales and they have a prominent lateral line.
The Smallmouth Buffalo is found in clean and moderate to fast moving streams and in lakes and ponds with dense aquatic vegetation over silty bottoms. They reach a maximum of 1.12 m (3 feet 8 inches) in length and 37.3 kg (82 lbs) in weight. They are generally non-migratory but are temperature-sensitive, thus will move to temperature environments that vary by a few degrees year-round. They are detritivores and consume vegetation and other organic material off the bottom. They also consume algae, zooplankton, insect larvae, mollusk larvae, and small crustaceans. Reproduction occurs in shallow waters with each female broadcasting tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands eggs that sink, adhere to vegetation, and hatch in approximately 10 days. They have a lifespan of up to eighteen years.
The Smallmouth Buffalos has a limited distribution in Mexican waters being found in the freshwater systems in the extreme northeast corner of the mainland.
The Smallmouth Buffalo can be confused with the Bigmouth Buffalo, Ictiobus cyprinellus (not found in Mexican waters; large terminal mouth), the Black Buffalo, Ictiobus niger (deeper body; significantly smaller eyes), and the Common Carp, Cyprinus carpio (has barbels).
From a conservation perspective the Smallmouth Buffalo is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They have been accidentally introduced in numerous locations in the south and southwest United States. They are the most common commercial freshwater fish in North America being considered to be a quality food fish. They are also processed into fish meal and used as animal feed. They are also raised in commercial farm ponds and have been stocked. They are also pursued at high levels by recreational anglers with both spinning and fly tackle.