Status of the Bigmouth Buffalo, Ictiobus cyprinellus, in Canada

The Bigmouth Buffalo, Ictiobus cyprinellus , is rare in Canada where its distribution are exceedingly limited. In Saskatchewan, populations in some streams are large enough to support a limited commercial fishery but elsewhere in Manitoba and Ontario, populations are extremely small and tenuous judging from the very few specimens that have been collected. In contrast, the species is widespread and abundant throughout the Mississippi River Basin in the United States. Primary limiting factors appear to be temperature and spring flooding to elicit spawning.