Fish
Smallmouth Buffalo
Ictiobus bubalus · also called buffalofish
A smallmouth buffalo feeding quietly along a riverbed may have been alive for longer than a century, a native North American fish so often mistaken for an unwanted invasive carp that its own remarkable longevity usually goes completely unnoticed.
Overview
The smallmouth buffalo, Ictiobus bubalus, is a large, long-lived native sucker found in large rivers, lakes, and reservoirs across central North America. Its extraordinary lifespan, potentially exceeding a century, combined with its frequent misidentification as an invasive carp, make it one of the more overlooked native fish species on the continent.
A native fish mistaken for an intruder
While much conservation attention focuses on removing invasive carp from North American waters, the smallmouth buffalo often gets swept up in that same suspicion despite being a genuine native species, one that has quietly outlived the very rivers’ worth of change happening around it.
Status
Least Concern — widespread across suitable large river and lake habitat throughout central North America.
Smallmouth Buffalo: common questions
How long can a smallmouth buffalo live?
A smallmouth buffalo can live remarkably long, with some individuals documented living well over one hundred years, making it one of the longest-lived freshwater fish species in North America, a lifespan far exceeding what most people would expect from a fish often mistaken for an unwanted invasive species.
Is the smallmouth buffalo an invasive carp?
No, despite being frequently mistaken for an invasive Asian carp due to a broadly similar body shape, the smallmouth buffalo is actually a native North American member of the sucker family, an entirely separate and unrelated lineage with its own long evolutionary history on the continent.
Why does the smallmouth buffalo have such a small mouth?
The smallmouth buffalo has a distinctly small, downturned mouth positioned specifically for feeding along the bottom, allowing it to draw in small invertebrates and organic material from mud and sediment rather than pursuing larger active prey the way a more predatory fish would.
Where does the smallmouth buffalo live?
The smallmouth buffalo is native to large rivers, lakes, and reservoirs across much of central North America, generally favouring bigger, more open water bodies suited to its considerable adult size.