FAMILY CATOSTOMIDAE 121 



Figure 14. Bigmouth bufFalofish, Megastoviatobns cyprinella. 22 inches long. 



marshes. After a few days they disappeared into the deeper waters. 

 While the fish were congested in the shallow waters, farmers and others 

 slaughtered vast numbers with clubs and pitchforks. 



In the northern lakes buffalofishes seldom take the hook, nor can 

 they be successfully gilled, but in more southern waters they are com- 

 monly taken on setlines baited with doughballs. 



They are still fairly common in the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers 

 and in some of the Minnesota lakes near the Iowa border. Buffalofish 

 from clean water, though somewhat bony, have very well-flavored flesh. 

 Those from dirty, weedy waters may have a muddy flavor. Many 

 thousands of pounds are caught and sold annually from southern Min- 

 nesota waters by commercial fishermen during the removal of rough 

 fish. The bufFalofish thrives best in the same type of waters as the 

 introduced carp, but its habits make it less obnoxious. The number of 

 bigmouth buffalofish inhabiting some southern Minnesota lakes is enor- 

 mous. Seine hauls have yielded nearly a thousand pounds of fish an acre. 



GENUS Ictiobus Rafinesque 



This genus has the mouth horizontal or only shghtly obhque. The 

 gill-rakers of the first arch, counted from the posterior face, number 

 less than 60. The several species found in Minnesota and neighboring 

 states reach a large size. 



BLACK BUFFALOFISH (Mongrel Buffalo) 

 Ictiobus niger (Rafinesque) 



The black buffalofish is larger and darker than the smallmouth buf- 

 falofish. Hubbs (1930) states: ". . . the slenderer but thicker body, 

 and the less elevated and less sharpened back of /. niger serve to dis- 



