Rock bass
Encyclopedia
The rock bass also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, or red eye is a species
of freshwater
fish
in the sunfish family
(Centrarchidae
) of order
Perciformes
. They are similar in appearance to smallmouth bass
but are usually quite a bit smaller. The average rock bass is between 6-10 inches, and they are rarely over a pound. Rock bass are native to the St Lawrence River and Great Lakes
system, the upper and middle Mississippi River
basin in North America
from Québec
to Saskatchewan
in the north down to Missouri
and Arkansas
, and throughout the eastern U.S. from New York
through Kentucky
and Tennessee
to the northern portions of Alabama
and Georgia and Florida
in the south. While fairly good eating cooked fresh, Rock Bass are generally not regarded by most anglers as a food fish of the quality of bluegill
or perch
. Fishing with live bait such as nightcrawlers
is the most effective to catch rock bass, although they are often caught with lures while fishing for bass
.
A. rupestris, the largest and most common of the Ambloplites
species, has reached a maximum recorded length of 43 cm (17 in), and a maximum recorded weight of 1.4 kg (3.0 lb
). It can live as long as 10 years. These fish have the ability to rapidly change their color to match their surroundings. It is this chameleon-like trait that allows them to thrive throughout their wide range.
The rock bass prefers clear, rocky, and vegetated stream pools and lake margins. It is carnivorous, and its diet consists of smaller fish, insect
s, and crustacean
s.
Rock bass can be surprisingly unflustered by the presence of human activity, living under lakeside docks and near swimming areas.
Ambloplites constellatus, a species of rock bass from the Ozark upland of Arkansas, and Ambloplites ariommus are true rock bass, but regarded as separate species.
A. rupestris is sometimes called the redeye or redeye bass in Canada
, but this name refers more properly to Micropterus coosae
, a distinct species of Centrarchid
native to parts of the American South.
Rafinesque
originally assigned the rock bass to Bodianus
, a genus
of marine
wrasses (family Labridae).
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of freshwater
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...
fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
in the sunfish family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
(Centrarchidae
Centrarchidae
The sunfishes are a family of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the order Perciformes. The type genus is Centrarchus . The family's 27 species includes many fishes familiar to North Americans, including the rock bass, largemouth bass, bluegill, pumpkinseed, and crappies...
) of order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Perciformes
Perciformes
The Perciformes, also called the Percomorphi or Acanthopteri, is one of the largest orders of vertebrates, containing about 40% of all bony fish. Perciformes means perch-like. They belong to the class of ray-finned fish and comprise over 7,000 species found in almost all aquatic environments...
. They are similar in appearance to smallmouth bass
Smallmouth bass
The smallmouth bass is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of the order Perciformes. It is the type species of its genus...
but are usually quite a bit smaller. The average rock bass is between 6-10 inches, and they are rarely over a pound. Rock bass are native to the St Lawrence River and Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
system, the upper and middle Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
basin in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
from Québec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
to Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
in the north down to Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
and Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, and throughout the eastern U.S. from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
through Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
and Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
to the northern portions of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
and Georgia and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
in the south. While fairly good eating cooked fresh, Rock Bass are generally not regarded by most anglers as a food fish of the quality of bluegill
Bluegill
The Bluegill is a species of freshwater fish sometimes referred to as bream, brim, or copper nose. It is a member of the sunfish family Centrarchidae of the order Perciformes.-Range and distribution:...
or perch
Perch
Perch is a common name for fish of the genus Perca, freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which there are three species in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Perciformes, from the Greek perke meaning spotted, and the...
. Fishing with live bait such as nightcrawlers
Nightcrawlers
Nightcrawlers are a form of earthworm. Prized primarily for use as fishing bait, nightcrawlers are generally known as either Canadian or European...
is the most effective to catch rock bass, although they are often caught with lures while fishing for bass
Bass (fish)
Bass is a name shared by many different species of popular gamefish. The term encompasses both 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."-Types of basses:*The temperate...
.
A. rupestris, the largest and most common of the Ambloplites
Ambloplites
Ambloplites Rafinesque, 1820, is a genus of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. The type species is A...
species, has reached a maximum recorded length of 43 cm (17 in), and a maximum recorded weight of 1.4 kg (3.0 lb
Pound (mass)
The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...
). It can live as long as 10 years. These fish have the ability to rapidly change their color to match their surroundings. It is this chameleon-like trait that allows them to thrive throughout their wide range.
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s, and crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s.
Rock bass can be surprisingly unflustered by the presence of human activity, living under lakeside docks and near swimming areas.
Ambloplites constellatus, a species of rock bass from the Ozark upland of Arkansas, and Ambloplites ariommus are true rock bass, but regarded as separate species.
A. rupestris is sometimes called the redeye or redeye bass in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, but this name refers more properly to Micropterus coosae
Redeye bass
The Redeye bass is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. One of the black basses, it is native to only a few rivers in western South Carolina, southwestern North Carolina, northern middle and eastern Tennessee, southwestern Virginia, and portions of Georgia,...
, a distinct species of Centrarchid
Centrarchidae
The sunfishes are a family of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the order Perciformes. The type genus is Centrarchus . The family's 27 species includes many fishes familiar to North Americans, including the rock bass, largemouth bass, bluegill, pumpkinseed, and crappies...
native to parts of the American South.
Rafinesque
Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz
Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz, as he is known in Europe, was a nineteenth-century polymath who made notable contributions to botany, zoology, the study of prehistoric earthworks in North America and Mesoamerican ancient linguistics.Rafinesque was eccentric, and is often portrayed as an...
originally assigned the rock bass to Bodianus
Bodianus
Bodianus is a genus of wrasses in the family Labridae.- Species :* Lyretail hogfish, Bodianus anthioides * Axilspot hogfish, Bodianus axillaris * Bodianus bathycapros Gomon, 2006...
, a genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of marine
Seawater
Seawater is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% . This means that every kilogram of seawater has approximately of dissolved salts . The average density of seawater at the ocean surface is 1.025 g/ml...
wrasses (family Labridae).