190 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
possibility that the fishery had depleted the local stock. In any event, the slump in 
catch occurred some weeks (being most noticeable at two months) after the end of the 
spawning season. The conditions might conform with the supposition that at some 
time after the spawning season the fish tend to recede down the river, so that the local 
spawners pass away from Keokuk, while their places are not taken by fish from the 
river above, since these are checked in their downward course by the slack water of 
the pool above the dam. 
The information gained by the author in 1926 is best included at this place. It is 
remarkable that fishes so familiar to the fishermen of all parts of the river and so 
economically valuable to them should be known by such a diversity of common 
names. One of the chief difficulties in obtaining information regarding the buffalo 
fishes arises from the multiplicity of names. A special effort was made to clear up the 
local nomenclature, and in this I was materially helped by H. L. Canfield, whose 
practical knowledge of Mississippi River fishes and fishermen was invaluable. The 
common names applicable in one place or another to the three species of buffalo fishes 
severally are given below in tabular arrangement. Out of all the diversity it is 
apparent that the common names of cyprinella nearly all refer to the form of the head 
or the mouth, those of bubalus to the form of the back, and those of urus either to the 
very extensible mouth (“bugler”) or to its habit of rooting in mud in the shallow 
waters (“rooter,” “reefer,” “prairie buffalo”). Names that are rarely encountered 
are placed in parentheses; contrasting names are placed in the same block. 
Table 6. — Common and scientific names of buffalo fishes of the Mississippi River 1 
I. cyprinella 
I. bubalus 
>• 
I. urus 
Names referring to head or mouth. 
Roundhead buffalo. 
Goardhead. 
Bullhead buffalo. 
Bullmouth buffalo. 
Bullnose buffalo. 
Stubnose buffalo. 
(Chubnose buffalo.) 
(Pug.) 
(Bigmouth buffalo.)* 
(Redmouth buffalo.)* 
(Smallmouth buffalo.) 
Buglemouth buffalo. 
Bugler. 
Rooter. 
Blue rooter. 
(Chucklehead buffalo.) 
Names referring to form of back. 
Roachback buffalo. 
Razorback buffalo. 
Humpback buffalo. 
Quillbaek buffalo. 
Round buffalo. 
Names referring to habitat. 
Slough buffalo. 
Channel buffalo. 
Reefer. 
(Mud buffalo.) 
(River buffalo.) 
Prairie buffalo. 
Kicker. 
Other names. 
(White buffalo?.) 
(Black carp.) 
Baitnet buffalo. 
(Southern buffalo.) 
Blue buffalo. 
(Bastard buffalo.) 
(Mongrel buffalo.) 
(Pumpkinseed buf- 
falo?). 
i Some other names were encountered but were not definitely identified with a particular species. It has been said that some 
fishermen or dealers distinguish more than three kinds of buffalo fishes, but nearly all well-informed fishermen recognize three 
chief kinds, which apparently correspond with the three species known to science. The names marked with an asterisk are from 
Forbes and Richardson (1908). 
The names used in the following paragraphs for the several species are, respective- 
ly, stubnose, roachback, and bugler. The names “roundhead” and “bullhead” are 
probably more generally employed for cyprinella than ; s stubnose, but either of these 
names invites confusion, for “round” is a very familiar name for urus and “bullhead” 
is, of course, applied to several species of catfishes. 
The stubnose buffalo fish is not generally common in the river proper, being 
characteristically an inhabitant of the bays, sloughs, and lakes. They are less 
esteemed than the roachbacks and are not generally so large. Forbes and Richardson 
