[8] The quillback has a subterminal mouth with no barbels, and no nipple-like protrusions on the bottom lip.

[citation needed] The quillback is found throughout much of North America, from Saskatchewan to Florida, and from South Dakota to Alabama.

They prefer water that is clear, slow moving, highly productive and moderately deep.

[9] They often comprise a large portion of the biomass of warmwater rivers, but they are very difficult to catch with traditional American angling methods.

[3][5][6][12][13][14] A study of a Minnesota population found that they may reach sexual maturity by age 8–9 years, live several decades at adult size, recruit more sporadically than previously realized, and attain longevity in excess of 40 years.

[5] The study also documented accrual of age-spot pigmentation after 30 years,[5] similar to their larger-bodied cousins, the bigmouth buffalo.

The female quillback produces between 15,000 and 60,000 eggs, and scatters them in shallow water over a sandy or mud bottom.

The quillback possesses a polygynandrous mating system, meaning that two or more males have an exclusive sexual relationship with two or more females.

A recent threat to the species is modern bowfishing, which is unregulated across the USA and prone to excessive waste.

[5][17] Other places prove vulnerability to the species including Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and North Carolina.