The bigmouth buffalo is typically a brownish olive color with dusky fins, but can vary greatly in color across individuals. Like other catostomids it has a long dorsal fin, but unlike all others it has a terminal (forward-facing) mouth reflecting its unique, pelagic feeding ecology. It is the largest of the buffalo fish and can reach a length of more than and in weight. Generally, it lives in sluggish areas of large rivers and in lakes. Bigmouth buffalo populations have been in decline in the northern extent of their range since the 1970s, including parts of Minnesota, North Dakota, and Canada. A 2019 study documented their late maturity, centenarian longevity, and that several populations in northwestern Minnesota are comprised mainly (85-90%) of individuals more than 80 years old, indicating recruitment failure since the 1930s. These life history attributes, including the ability to survive decades with virtually no successful recruitment (i.e. periodic recruitment), are shared by other long-lived freshwater fishes, including sturgeon. Such species require time to successfully sustain themselves, surviving to periods in which favorable environmental conditions arise that allow for booms in reproduction and subsequent recruitment. Management of bigmouth buffalo is thus in urgent need of reevaluation, at least in the northern part of their US range where populations are already declining; there are no limits on harvest, and night bowfishing was recently legalized, allowing a new and growing form of exploitation.