Micropterus
Genus of fishes
title: "Micropterus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["micropterus", "lepominae", "ray-finned-fish-genera", "freshwater-fish-genera", "symbols-of-mississippi", "freshwater-fish-of-north-america", "extant-miocene-first-appearances", "taxa-named-by-bernard-germain-de-lacépède"] description: "Genus of fishes" topic_path: "general/micropterus" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micropterus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of fishes ::
| fossil_range = | image = Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu).jpg | image_caption = Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) | taxon = Micropterus | authority = Lacepede, 1802 | type_species = Micropterus dolomieu | type_species_authority = Lacepède, 1802 | synonyms = {{Collapsible list|
- Aplesion Rafinesque, 1820
- Aplites Rafinesque, 1820
- Calliurus Rafinesque, 1819
- Dioplites Rafinesque, 1820
- Gristes Cuvier, 1829
- Huro Cuvier, 1828
- Nemocampsis Rafinesque,.] 1820 | synonyms_ref =
Micropterus is a genus of North American freshwater fish collectively known as the black bass, which belong to the sunfish family Centrarchidae of order Centrarchiformes. They are sometimes erroneously called "black trout", but the name trout more correctly refers to certain potamodromous members of the family Salmonidae (order Salmoniformes).
Micropterus are widely distributed east of the Rocky Mountains, from the Hudson Bay basin in Canada to northeastern Mexico. Several species, notably the largemouth and smallmouth bass, have been very widely introduced throughout the world, and are now considered cosmopolitan. All black bass species are highly sought-after game fish and well known as strong fighters when hooked, and bass fishing is an extremely popular outdoor sport throughout their native range. Their meat is quite edible and firm, although they are not regarded as commercial food fish.
All black bass species have a dull-green base coloring with dark patterns on the sides. Most reach a maximum overall length of 40 -, but some strains of the largemouth bass have been reported to grow to almost 1 m in length. In spawning seasons, the male builds a "nest" (spawning ground) in the bed where a female is induced to deposit her eggs, then the male externally fertilizes them. The male continues to guard the eggs and fry until they disperse from the nest.
Various black bass species have been introduced into freshwater bodies outside North America, where they become invasive in many instances. In Japan, they have been declared nuisance fish and are subjected to numerous attempts at eradicating them from local ecosystems.
Fossil record
A single fossil species, †Micropterus relictus Smith, Cavender & Miller, 1975 is known from the Late Pliocene or Early Pleistocene of Jalisco, Mexico, when it presumably inhabited the Lake Chapala basin. This is the southernmost species known to have existed, as Micropterus basses are no longer native to the region. Several indeterminate fossil Micropterus are known from the Miocene of Nebraska and Oklahoma, US, with the oldest dating to the Middle Miocene (16-15 mya).
Species
Currently, 14 recognized species are placed in this genus: ::data[format=table title=""]
| Image | Species | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Micropterus cahabae | Cahaba bass | ||
| Micropterus cataractae | shoal bass | ||
| Micropterus chattahoochae | Chattahoochee bass | ||
| [[File:Micropterus coosae 197067325 (cropped).jpg | frameless]] | Micropterus coosae | redeye bass |
| [[File:Smallmouth Bass (49561724026).jpg | frameless]] | Micropterus dolomieu | smallmouth bass |
| [[File:Micropterus henshalli, San Luis Obispo County, CA, USA imported from iNaturalist photo 62103448 (cropped).jpg | frameless]] | Micropterus henshalli | Alabama bass |
| Micropterus notius | Suwannee bass | ||
| [[File:Micropterus punctulatus 243706265 (cropped).jpg | frameless]] | Micropterus punctulatus | spotted bass |
| [[File:Largemouth Bass, North Channel Saint Clair River imported from iNaturalist photo 402867934 (cropped).jpg | frameless]] | Micropterus nigricans | largemouth bass |
| [[File:Florida Bass, Beaufort County, SC, USA imported from iNaturalist photo 31909164 (cropped).jpg | frameless]] | Micropterus salmoides | Florida bass |
| [[File:Micropterus tallapoosae, Waverly Pkwy, Opelika, AL, US imported from iNaturalist photo 499685473 (cropped).jpg | frameless]] | Micropterus tallapoosae | Tallapoosa bass |
| [[File:Guadalupe Bass, Ingram, TX, US imported from iNaturalist photo 60550999 (cropped).jpg | frameless]] | Micropterus treculii | Guadalupe bass |
| Micropterus velox | Neosho bass | ||
| Micropterus warriorensis | warrior bass | ||
| :: |
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Choctaw_bass.jpg" caption="[[Choctaw bass]] ("''M. haiaka''")"] ::
A 15th species, the Choctaw bass Micropterus haiaka, has been proposed, but this does not yet appear to have been widely accepted. A further two species, the Altamaha bass and Bartram's bass, are as yet undescribed and have been included under the redeye bass.
A genomic analysis in 2022 described new species and found that the binomials, M. salmoides and M. floridanus as used above are misapplied to the largemouth bass and the Florida bass, this study found that M. salmoides is the valid binomial for the Florida bass, while M. floridanus, is its junior synonym. They also found that the oldest available binomial for the largemouth bass is M. nigricans.
References
References
- (1802). "Histoire naturelle des poissons, tome IV". Chez Saugrain.
- "''Micropterus''".
- {{Cof family
- (30 October 2022). "American Bass Fish Species Guide".
- Rohde, F.C., Arndt, R.G., Lindquist, D.G. & Parnell, J.F. (1996): ''Freshwater Fishes of the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware.'' Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994.
- (6 July 2007). "Locals in for long haul in battle against non-native fish". Asahi Shimbun.
- (2009). "Centrarchid Fishes".
- "CAS - Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes".
- Baker, W.H., Blanton, R.E. & Johnston, C.E. (2013): Diversity within the Redeye Bass, ''Micropterus coosae'' (Perciformes: Centrarchidae) species group, with descriptions of four new species. ''Zootaxa, 3635 (4): 379–401.''
- "Southern smallies".
- (2013). ["Molecular and Morphological Evidence for a Novel Black bass Species Native to Rivers of the East Gulf Coastal Plain]"](https://afs.confex.com/afs/2013/webprogram/Paper12291.html).
- {{FishBase genus. (2019)
- (2022). "Phylogenomics and species delimitation of the economically important Black Basses (Micropterus)". Scientific Reports.
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