Shadow bass

The shadow bass (Ambloplites ariommus) is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) of order Centrarchiformes. It is endemic to southeastern United States.

Habitat

The shadow bass is a freshwater fish that inhabits a climate range of 38 to 29°N in the United States. It prefers slow-flowing water over substrates of silt-free mud, sand, gravel, and pebbles. Brushy and vegetated pools are preferred microhabitat in most streams. Undercut banks and woody debris in small to medium-sized rivers and streams are also preferred habitat. The quantitative diet of shadow bass consists mostly of small invertebrates, mainly crayfish when less than three inches; after three inches, they can begin feeding on small fish species such as darters, madtoms, and minnows. The main predator and competitor of the shadow bass is the smallmouth bass which inhabits the same microhabitat. Research on the introduction of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in shadow bass habitat to measure competition between the species, the data showed no effect on shadow bass populations. Factors by humans that might attribute to population decline of the shadow bass channelization, sedimentation from logging, and habitat encroachment.

Distribution

The shadow bass's native range includes the southeastern United States from the Apalachicola River drainage in Georgia to the lower Mississippi basin in Louisiana. Two isolated populations reported in the St. Francis, Black Arkansas Red, and upper Ouachita River drainages in Missouri and Arkansas in the Ozark regions may either not represent this species or are hybrids with Ambloplites rupestris. In Tennessee, the shadow bass can be found in most drainages south of the Tennessee River. Other river drainages that shadow bass inhabit are Blackwater and Chattahoochee Rivers in southern Georgia and northern Florida. The apparent absence of shadow bass in Black Belt streams is probably the result of low stream flow and poor water-quality conditions during the late summer when temperatures are high. Channelization is a possible factor in the distribution of the shadow bass in Mississippi River systems, but no difference in the distribution of shadow bass was found.