Rock bass
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Ambloplites rupestris (Rafinesque, 1817) |
The rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris, Ambloplites Ariommus, Ambloplites Constellatus), also known as the rock perch or goggle-eye, is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) of order Perciformes. 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 in the south. All species of rock bass are considered gamefish and are popular with sustenance and sport fishermen. Sport anglers often employ ultra-light spinning gear or fly tackle designed for panfish.
A. rupestris, the largest and commonest of the Ambloplites species, has reached a maximum recorded overall 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. Carnivorous, its diet consists of smaller fish, insects, and crustaceans.
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).
