Black buffalo
(Ictiobus niger)
General data
The black buffalo (Ictiobus niger) is a North American species of freshwater fish in the Catostomidae or sucker family.
At 56 years old for one specimens age, it is one of the longest-lived catostomids.
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.
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.
It has a distinct shape that mocks I. bubalus and I. cyprinellus, considering it a hybrid between the two species.
