Florida bass

The Florida bass (Micropterus salmoides) is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a black bass belonging to the sunfish family Centrarchidae of order Centrarchiformes. It is found in the southeastern United States.

Distribution

The Florida bass was thought to be restricted to Florida but a phylogenomic study found that it was widespread in coastal river systems of the southeastern United States from Florida north to the Cape Fear River in North Carolina. The Florida bass has been introduced to Nevada, alongside the largemouth bass, and into the range of the largemouth bass. Where the species mix the introgression of Florida bass genes can be very quick. Like the largemouth bass, Florida bass, can be found in a wide variety of waterbodies, it occurs in large lakes, rivers, and reservoirs, to smaller waterbodies such as swamps, ponds, and creek pools. Although this species may prosper in many aquatic environments, it tends to be most numerous in warm, densely vegetated eutrophic lakes, rivers and reservoirs. They are commonly found along shallow shorelines, but more frequently found around logs, rocks and beds of aquatic plants.