Bigmouth buffalo

The bigmouth buffalo's native distribution is confined to the countries of Canada and the United States of America. It is native to the Red River of the North and Mississippi River drainage basins, from Manitoba, Canada, and North Dakota, United States, to the Ohio River and south in the Mississippi River system to Texas and Alabama. In Canada, they inhabit the Milk River which flows through Alberta, and the Qu'Appelle River which flows through Saskatchewan and Manitoba into Lake Winnipeg. Beginning in the northern United States, they are native to Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, to southern states including eastern Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. The major systems where they are found include the Hudson Bay and Mississippi River drainages. The introduction of bigmouth buffalo has largely been done for commercial purposes. Regions of reintroductions include some reservoirs along the Missouri River drainage of North Dakota and Montana. Regions of introduction include some reservoirs in Arizona, == Ecological, cultural, and economic importance ==

Native to North America, bigmouth buffalo are integral to ecosystems therein. northern pike, alligator gar, etc. Bigmouth buffalo filter-feed on invasive zebra mussels during the mollusk's larval (veliger) planktonic stage. They form the native counterpart to the invasive bighead and silver carp, and they compete with the invasive common carp. Though it has small bones suspended in its muscle tissue like northern pike, its good flavor makes it one of the most valuable of the traditional, non-game freshwater fish. In addition to being a foodfish, the bigmouth buffalo has recently become a sportfish as catch-and-release anglers have learned to pursue them on rod-and-line, and as lethal bowfishing has also increased in the 21st century. Although commercial harvest is regulated, sport-kill bowfishing is not. ==Ecology==

and smallmouth buffalos, is a filter-feeder, using its very fine gill rakers to strain plankton from the water. It sometimes feeds near the bottom, using short up-and down movements to filter from the water the plankton that hover near the bottom or rest lightly on it. The juveniles and adults are mostly limnetic plankton feeders that also eat cladocerans, copepods, algae, chironomids, ostracods, and other insect larvae and invertebrates depending on availability. The optimum habitat for spawning bigmouth buffalo is freshly-flooded vegetated waters.|alt= The bigmouth buffalo are group spawners The minimum dissolved oxygen during the spring and summer is 5 mg/L. == Life history ==

Reaching a recorded maximum of 148 years of age, the bigmouth buffalo is the longest living freshwater teleost (a group of more than 12,000 species) by more than 50 years, shattering all previous records for this group. evidence of its extended longevity came as a surprise and was initially met with skepticism. Thorough bomb radiocarbon dating was conducted on their otolith microstructure and confirmed the age estimates generated from thin-sectioned otoliths, making bigmouth buffalo the oldest age-validated freshwater fish in the world. The onset of sexual maturity of bigmouth buffalo varies with latitude. In central North Dakota and southern Minnesota, females reach the onset of sexual maturation around 10 years old, while males begin maturation around 6 years of age. In Canada, bigmouth buffalo females had not yet reached the onset of sexual maturity by an age of 11 years. Their delayed maturity, great longevity, high fecundity yet little investment per egg, no parental care, and resulting episodic recruitment, are phenomena representative of the periodic strategist - their slow, marathon-like, life history pace. Bigmouth buffalo also have a tendency to accumulate unique pigmentation (orange and black spots) as they age, which may vary by habitat variables such as water quality and available food. ==Conservation status==

- Nelson River populations designatable unit has been listed under Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act as being of special concern since 2011 due to contiguous declines The hybridization does not seem to be negatively affecting their populations but makes it difficult to determine how many hybrids and how many black buffalo are actually in certain reservoirs. The fish is vulnerable in shallow water and is often captured by bow and arrow via bowfishing. In some places like the southern US, progeny have been reared in hatcheries. == Fishing ==

On June 21, 2013, Noah LaBarge (12 years old) caught the Wisconsin state record bigmouth buffalo fish. It measured and weighed . The catch beat the previous record of , caught by Greg Megibben in 2001, also at Percy Priest. After the record was certified, Wilkins released the fish back into the lake. The International Game Fish Association all-tackle record stands at , caught on April 21, 1980 by Delbert Sisk in Bastrop, Louisiana. ==See also==