Iowa Fish Atlas

Native: Yes

State Rank: S3

ITIS Code: 163957          

National Rank: N5           

Global Rank: G5

Modeled By: Anna Loan-Wilsey

State Range:

The black buffalo is less abundant and widespread than the other buffalofish in Iowa.   Found mainly in the Mississippi River, it has been documented as rare in the large interior rivers (Harlan et al. 1987). Despite historic occurrences in the Des Moines River and Cedar River Basins, the only recent collections of the black buffalo in Iowa’s interior waters are from Iowa River watersheds. Native to the Missouri River, the occurrence of black buffalo has decreased since canalization of the river (Harlan et al. 1987).  Although currently not listed as endangered or threatened, protecting this species from further decline in its abundance and distribution may be warranted (Harlan et al. 1987).

Habitat Affinities:

The black buffalo occurs in a variable range of habitats with only occasional abundance. In the Mississippi River Pflieger (1971) found that it is more abundant in the unimpounded section below the mouth of the Missouri River than in the canalized section above. However, investigators in Arkansas, Kansas, and Wisconsin find that the black buffalo occurs in impoundments and reservoirs (Becker 1983; Cross and Collins 1995; Robison and Buchanan 1988) and in Ohio Trautman (1981) found occasional abundance in turbid, mud-bottomed, shallow overflow ponds and sloughs. Whether in large rivers, shallow riffles or impoundments, the existence of strong current is a common denominator of the black buffalo habitat (Cross 1967; Cross and Collins 1995; Harlan et al. 1987; Pflieger 1997; Robison and Buchanan 1988), as evidenced by the nicknames “buoy tender” and “current buffalo” given by commercial fisherman (Tomelleri and Eberle 1990).

Predictive Model(s):

Statewide Model: by 8-digit HU [Decision Tree Analysis n=9]

The distribution is based upon existing collection records.

("TEMP_CODE" = 2 AND "SDISCR_2C" = 0 AND

  ((( "SOIL_TEXT" > 6 AND "SOIL_TEXT" <= 8) AND "SSIZE_CODE" > 2) OR  

  "SOIL_TEXT" > 8))

Mississippi River Model:

The distribution is based upon existing collection records and professional review.

("pool" >= 'S08' AND "pool" <= 'S20')

Missouri River Model

The distribution is based upon existing collection records and professional review.

("pool" = 'O18' )

Overall Prediction:

("TEMP_CODE" = 2 AND "SDISCR_2C" = 0 AND

((( "SOIL_TEXT" > 6 AND "SOIL_TEXT" <= 8) AND "SSIZE_CODE" > 2) OR "SOIL_TEXT" > 8)) OR ("pool" >= 'S08' AND "pool" <= 'S20') OR ("pool" = 'O18' )

Literature Cited:

Becker, G.C.  1983.  Fishes of Wisconsin.  University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. 1052 pp.

Cross, F.B.  1967.  Handbook of fishes of Kansas.  University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Miscellaneous Publication  No. 45, Lawrence, Kansas.  357 pp.

Cross, F.B., and J.T. Collins.  1995.  Fishes in Kansas.  University of Kansas Natural History Museum, Public Education Series No. 14, Lawrence, Kansas.   315 pp.

Harlan, J.R., E.B. Speaker, and J. Mayhew.  1987.  Iowa fish and fishing. Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa. 323pp.

Pflieger, W.L.  1971.  A distributional study of Missouri fishes.  University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History  20(3):225-570.

Pflieger, W.L.  1997.  The fishes of Missouri.  Missouri Department of Conservation, Jefferson City, Missouri.  372 pp.

Robison, H.W., and T.M. Buchanan. 1988.  Fishes of Arkansas.  University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, Arkansas.  536 pp.

Tomelleri, J.R., and M.E. Eberle.  1990.  Fishes of the Central United States.  University  Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.  226 pp.

Trautman, M.B.  1981.  The fishes of Ohio.  Revised Edition.  Ohio State University Press in collaboration with the Ohio Sea Grant Program Center for Lake Erie Area Research,  Columbus, Ohio.  782 pp.

Data Sources:

Barnickol, P.G., and W.C. Starrett.  1951.  Commercial and sport fishes of the

Mississippi River between Caruthersville, Missouri, and Dubuque, Iowa.  Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin 25(Article 5):267-347.

Cleary, R.E.  1956.  Summary of the cooperative exploratory fishing operations in the

Wisconsin-Illinois-Iowa sections of the Mississippi River- 1956.  Job Description Investigations Projects.  Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa.

Fairport Fish Management and Hatchery.  2003.  Field notes and unpublished reports.

Southeast Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Fairport, Iowa.

Gelwicks, G., J. Heitke, and G. Simmons.  2002.  Contemporary fish survey. Iowa

Department of Natural Resources, Manchester, Iowa.

Govro, K.C.  1977.  Effects of sewage effluent on fish in the Iowa River at Marshalltown.

Master’s thesis.  Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Hesse, L.W., Q.L. Bliss, and G.J. Zuerlein.  1982.  Some aspects of the ecology of adult

fishes in the channelized Missouri River with special reference to the effects of two nuclear power generating stations.  Pages 224-277 in L.W. Hesse, G.L. Hergenrader, H.S. Lewis, S.D. Reetz, and A.B. Schlesinger, editors. The Middle Missouri River: a collection of papers on the biology with special reference to power station effects.  The Missouri River Study Group, Norfolk, Nebraska.

Iowa State University Museum.  1985.  Collection of fishes catalog, 1878-1985.   Iowa

State University, Ames, Iowa.

Long Term Resource Monitoring Program.  2002.   Pool 13 database, 1990-2001.  Upper

Midwest Environmental Science Center, Bellevue, Iowa.

Manchester Fish Management.  2002.  Field notes and unpublished reports.  Northeast

Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Manchester, Iowa.

Meek, S.E.  1892.  Report upon the fishes of Iowa, based upon observations and

collections mad during 1889, 1890, 1891.  Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission. 10(1890):217-248.

Menzel, B.W.  1984.  Field notes: Des Moines-Skunk.  Iowa State University, Ames,

Iowa.

Mount Mercy College Museum.  2002.  Vertebrate collection database report.  Mount

Mercy College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Museum of Zoology.  2002.  Division of Fishes collection database.  University of

Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. http://www.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/. (May 2002)

Nord, R.C.  1967.  A compendium of fishery information on the Upper Mississippi River.

Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Rock Island, Illinois. 238 pp. 

Smith, P.W,. and A.C. Lopinot.  1966.  The 1966 survey of fishes from the mouths of

Mississippi River tributaries, Appendix B, pp.226-233, Illinois State Natural History Survey, Champaign, Illinois.

UMRCC.  1953.  Revised species list- northern section of the river.  Pages 19-32 in

Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Meeting, Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Rock Island, Illinois.

Wenke, T.L.  1965.  Some ecological relationships of mayflies, caddisflies, and fish in

the Mississippi River near Keokuk, Iowa.  Ph.D. dissertation.  Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Additional References:

Becker, G.C.  1983.  Fishes of Wisconsin.  University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. 1052 pp.

Clay, W.M.  1975.  The fishes of Kentucky.  Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Frankfort, Kentucky.  416 pp.

Douglas, N.H.  1974.  Freshwater fishes of Louisiana.  Claitor’s Publishing Division, Sponsored by Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  443 pp.

Eddy, S., and J.C. Underhill.  1974.  Northern fishes; with special reference to the upper Mississippi Valley.  University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  414 pp.

Etnier, D.A., and W.E. Starnes.  1993.  The fishes of Tennessee.  University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, Tennessee.  681 pp.

Houston, J.  1990.  Status of the black buffalo, Ictiobus niger, in Canada.  Canadian Field-Naturalist 104(1):98-102.

Kelly, G., editor.  1986.  Animal habitat relations handbook.  Missouri Department of Conservation and U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Jefferson City, Missouri.  293 pp.

Lee, D.S., C.R. Gilbert, C.H. Hocutt, R.E. Jenkins, D.E. McAllister, and J.R. Stauffer, Jr.  1980.  Atlas of North American freshwater fishes.  North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina.  867 pp.

Page, L.M., and B.M. Burr.  1991.  A field guide to freshwater fishes: North America north of Mexico.  Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 432 pp.

Pflieger, W.L.  1989a.  Aquatic community classification system for Missouri.  Missouri Department of Conservation.  Jefferson City, Missouri.  Aquatic Series No. 19. 70 pp. plus Supplement.

Pflieger, W.L.  1989b.  The stream resources of Missouri.  D-J Project - F-1-R-28.  Study S-20.  Missouri Department of Conservation, Columbia, Missouri.  

Phillips, G.L., W.D. Schmid, and J.C. Underhill.  1982.  Fishes of the Minnesota region.  University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  248 pp.

Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott.  1991.  Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada.  American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20, Bethesda, Maryland. 183 pp.

Smith, G.R. 1992.  Phylogeny and biogeography of the Catostomidae, freshwater fishes of North America and Asia. Pages 778-826 in Mayden, R.L., editor.  Systematics, historical ecology, and North American freshwater fishes. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. xxvi + 969 pp.

Thom, R.H., and J.H. Wilson.  1980.  The natural divisions of Missouri.  Transactions of the Missouri Academy of Science  14:9-24.

Photo Credits:

Upper Left:       Picture courtesy of Texas Parks and Wildlife. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us.

Upper Right:     Photo courtesy of Nature’s Images, Inc., http://www.angelfire.com/tx4/NaturesImage/index.html