What's In a Name?
Quillback: refers to the long, quill-like first ray on the dorsal fin (the fin on its back)

Carpiode (car-pee-oh´-deez) means "carp-like" in Latin
cyprinus (sigh-prin´-us) named after the genus of carp; refers to the island of Cyprus where the Romans first encountered carp

How Big Do They Get?
How Long Do They Live?
The quillback is our largest carpsucker and can reach 200 mm (20 in) and 2.7 kg (6 lbs). They live for about 10 years, although we know of specimens from Wisconsin as old as 12 years.

What Eats Them?
Young quillbacks undoubtedly are eaten by piscivorous (fish-eating) fishes, but predation on them has not been reported. Small quillbacks often associate with sand and mudflats in larger rivers. So, they are probably preyed upon by herons and eagles. The number of quillbacks taken by humans is very small.

How Do They Reproduce?
We know very little about the spawning times or habitats of quillback in Minnesota. Based on the occurrence of young-of-the-year, we suspect that they spawn fairly late for a sucker species, perhaps in May and June. Ripe males and females have been observed in Ohio streams as late as September, but we have no evidence of such late spawning in Minnesota. According to observations in other states, quillback ascend small streams to spawn over sand and mudflats in slow-moving water. They probably broadcast their eggs over the spawning area and abandon them immediately after spawning. Fully developed juveniles (young-of-the-year) begin to appear in June at about 25 mm (1 in) long.

Conservation and Management
Quillbacks have no special conservation status in Minnesota. They are not abundant in Minnesota but are more common then our other two carpsuckers species. In more southern midwestern states, the quillback is a commercial species of modest value.