Fish of the Week - Bass and (Large mouth and Small mouth Bass)

Largemouth Bass with Sunfish

Bass is a name shared by many different species of popular gamefish. The term both encompasses freshwater and marine species. All belong to the large order Perciformes, or perch-like fishes, and in fact the word bass comes from Middle English bars, meaning "perch."



* The temperate basses, such as the striped bass (Morone saxatilis) and white bass (M. chrysops), belong to the family Moronidae.
* The black basses, such as the largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), smallmouth bass (M. dolomieu), spotted bass (M. punctulatus), and Guadalupe bass (M. treculii), belong to the sunfish family, Centrarchidae.



Many species are also known as basses, including:
* The Australian bass, Macquaria novemaculeata, is a member of the temperate perch family, Percichthyidae.
* The black sea bass, Centropristis striata, is a member of the sea bass and sea grouper family, Serranidae.
* The giant sea bass Stereolepis gigas, also known as the black sea bass, is a member of the wreckfish family, Polyprionidae.
* The Chilean sea bass, Dissostichus eleginoides, more commonly known as the Patagonian toothfish, is a member of the cod icefish family, Nototheniidae.
* The European seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax, is a member of the temperate bass family, Moronidae.
* The "lanternbellies" or "temperate ocean-basses" - the family Acropomatidae.



Smallmouth bass


The smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) of the order Perciformes. It is the type species of its genus. One of the black basses, it is a popular game fish sought by anglers throughout the temperate zones of North America, and has been spread by stock to many cool-water tributaries and lakes in the United States and Canada. The smallmouth bass is native to the upper and middle Mississippi River basin, the Saint Lawrence River–Great Lakes system, and up into the Hudson Bay basin. Its common names include smallmouth, bronzeback, brown bass, brownie, smallie, bronze bass, and bareback bass.


The smallmouth bass is generally brown (seldom yellow) with red eyes, and dark brown vertical bands, rather than a horizontal band along the side. There are 13–15 soft rays in the dorsal fin. The upper jaw of smallmouth bass extends to the middle of the eye.
Males are generally smaller than females. The males tend to range around two pounds, while females can range from three to six pounds. Their average sizes can differ, depending on where they are found; those found in American waters tend to be larger due to the longer summers, which allow them to eat and grow for a longer period of time.
Their habitat plays a significant role in their color, weight, and shape. River water smallmouth that live among dark water tend to be rather torpedo-shaped and very dark brown to be more efficient for feeding. Lakeside smallmouth bass, however, that live in sandy areas, tend to be a light yellow-brown to adapt to the environment in a defensive state and are more oval-shaped



Largemouth bass

The largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) is a freshwater gamefish in the sunfish family, a species of black bass native to North America. It is also known by a variety of regional names, such as the brown bass, widemouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucketmouth, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, gilsdorf bass, linesides, Oswego bass, southern largemouth and (paradoxically) northern largemouth. The largemouth bass is the state fish of Alabama (official freshwater fish), Georgia, Mississippi, Florida (state freshwater fish), and Tennessee (official sport fish).



The largemouth is an olive green fish, marked by a series of dark, sometimes black, blotches forming a jagged horizontal stripe along each flank. The upper jaw (maxilla) of a largemouth bass extends beyond the rear margin of the orbit. In comparison to age, a female bass is larger than a male. The largemouth is the largest of the black basses, reaching a maximum recorded overall length of 29.5 in (75 cm) and a maximum unofficial weight of 25 pounds 1 ounce (11.4 kg).[10] The fish lives 16 years on average.