Micropterus

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Their meat is quite edible and firm, although they are not regarded as commercial food fish.Template:Citation needed

All black bass species have a dull-green base coloring with dark patterns on the sides. Most reach a maximum overall length of Template:Cvt, but some strains of the largemouth bass have been reported to grow to almost Template:Convert in length.<ref>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.</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Species

Currently, 14 recognized species are placed in this genus:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Micropterus cahabae W. H. Baker, Blanton & C. E. Johnston, 2013 (Cahaba bass) <ref name=Baker2013>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.</ref>
• Micropterus cataractae J. D. Williams & G. H. Burgess, 1999 (shoal bass)
• Micropterus chattahoochae W. H. Baker, Blanton & C. E. Johnston, 2013 (Chattahoochee bass) <ref name=Baker2013/>
• Micropterus coosae C. L. Hubbs & R. M. Bailey, 1940 (redeye bass)
• Micropterus dolomieu Lacépède, 1802 (smallmouth bass) File:Smallmouth bass.png
• Micropterus henshalli C. L. Hubbs & R. M. Bailey, 1940 (Alabama bass)
• Micropterus notius R. M. Bailey & C. L. Hubbs, 1949 (Suwannee bass) File:Micropterus notius (white background).jpg
• Micropterus punctulatus Rafinesque, 1819 (spotted bass)
• Micropterus nigricans (Cuvier, 1828) (largemouth bass) File:Largemouth bass - DPLA - (white background).jpg
• Micropterus salmoides (Lacépède, 1802) (Florida bass)
• Micropterus tallapoosae W. H. Baker, Blanton & C. E. Johnston, 2013 (Tallapoosa bass) <ref name=Baker2013/>
• Micropterus treculii (Vaillant & Bocourt, 1874) (Guadalupe bass)
• Micropterus velox Hubbs & Bailey, 1940 (Neosho bass)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• Micropterus warriorensis W. H. Baker, Blanton & C. E. Johnston, 2013 (warrior bass) <ref name=Baker2013/>

A 15th species, the Choctaw bass Micropterus haiaka, has been proposed,<ref name = TBSK>Template:Cite journal</ref> but this does not yet appear to have been widely accepted.<ref name="Fishbase">{{#invoke:Cite taxon|main|fishbase|genus=|species=|subspecies=}}</ref> A further two species, the Altamaha bass and Bartram's bass, are as yet undescribed and have been included under the redeye bass.<ref name = "Kim2022"/>

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.<ref name = "Kim2022">Template:Cite journal</ref>

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).<ref name=":9">Template:Cite book</ref>

See also

• Bass fishing