to keep from flowing away. Each female can lay tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of eggs at a time depending on her size, and no parental care is applied and the eggs hatch in one to two weeks. The young hide in aquatic vegetation to avoid predators. The lifespan of a smallmouth buffalo is not well known because of limited study on their otoliths and a reliance instead on other structures (e.g. scales, fin rays, gill plates) that are inadequate for age analysis. However, a 2019 study took an initial look at their otoliths (earstones) from a commercially-harvested population in the middle Mississippi River drainage and found that even with harvest, about half of the sample was 20 years or older, with the oldest being 39 years of age. A 2020 study on a single female specimen from Oklahoma found she was 62 years old. The onset of sexual maturity for smallmouth buffalo varies by population but is typically 4–5 years for males and around 6 years for females. Relationship with humans Although historically and derogatorily considered by many to be a rough fish, smallmouth buffalo are native to North American ecosystems, are the most common commercially sold freshwater fish in the United States, are sought after by traditional anglers, and they are rapidly becoming a new sportfish as modernized night bowfishing has become increasingly popular since 2010 - a sport that targets this species among others. Thus, harvest management of this species (for sustainability) is in urgent need of reassessment as essentially no agency is tracking the ecological impact of modernized bowfishing, and there are virtually no limits on harvest. The species is highly valued by some as a human food source and the fish meal is common in animal feed. They are relatively quick and easy to raise in commercial farm ponds. Anglers seeking to hook a smallmouth buffalo have found success with doughballs and corn on hooks. An fish taken from Athens Lake, Texas on May 6, 1993 by angler Randy Collins stands as the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) all-tackle world record for the species, while a specimen caught on May 16, 2022 in Livingston Lake, Texas by James Schmid is the current IGFA all-tackle length record. The North Carolina state record for smallmouth buffalo is an fish caught in Lake Wylie on November 14, 1993 by Tony Crawford, who had previously set the