More Bass Species than I'd Thought

[UPSmallie]

Didn't realize there was this many.  I think this might help clear up some confusion in the future.  Really want to catch a Chattahoochee Bass now!

 

http://www.gameandfishmag.com/fishing/how-many-black-bass-species-are-there/

[Gundog]

Amazing but I think some of those species are almost impossible to differentiate between. Some seem almost identical if you don't put them side by side. I know some people have a hard time telling the difference between largemouth and spotted bass if they don't have one of each to reference from. Having never caught a spotted bass I can't say for sure that I would be able to tell the difference. 

[Hog Basser]

I catch spots (some call them Kentucky Bass) a lot around here in creeks and some have even infiltrated my pond.  Haven't heard of a lot of those and figure they are mostly regional. 

[Munkin]

You need to catch a few spots before they are recognizable. The craziest one I have caught was a meanmouth bass which is a spot/smallmouth hybrid.

 

Allen

[Deleted account]

Depending on who you ask, there are between 8 and 13 species in the genus Micropterus. Some are clearly isolated populations which have given rise to their adaptations (or God put them there). Beyond the LMB, SMB, and spots, most will never be encountered, unless you run a still in the hicks, and fish the creek...

 

https://markgelbart.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/the-evolutionary-history-of-the-black-bass-genus-micropterus-sp/

[UPSmallie]

That's pretty neat.  Thanks for sharing

[J Francho]

22 hours ago, Gundog said:

Amazing but I think some of those species are almost impossible to differentiate between. Some seem almost identical if you don't put them side by side. I know some people have a hard time telling the difference between largemouth and spotted bass if they don't have one of each to reference from. Having never caught a spotted bass I can't say for sure that I would be able to tell the difference. 

 

Some of those VERY similar subspecies have very limited range.  So you would know what fish you're catching by what location you are fishing.  Whether these are "species" or not depends on what particular biologist feels the definition of a species is.  Advances in DNA testing has made this a little more complicated.

[WRB]

There is a definate difference between Florida LMB and northern LMB, different scale counts and different growth rate when living in the same lake. Same is true with Spotted bass, the northern or Kentucky strain is much smaller then the southern or Alabama strain that grows 2X the size of the Kentucky in the same lake. Are these different species or different stains of the same species? these bass look alike in regards to coloration, very different in scales counts and growth, but can intergrade or breed naturally making them strains within the same specie.

Tom

[J Francho]

Hybrids that produce viable offspring that can reproduce are no longer relegated to subspecies status.  That's a shift in the way science classify species that started in the 90s.   Scale counts are real deal breaker, in my book, and I really agree with the Florida/Northern "strains" being different species.  Changes in scientific nomenclature are slow, though.  There has to be a study, a dataset, a paper published, and articles submitted to the scientific committee.  I don't remember the whole process, but my old boss went through the process of having a killifish species named after him, and it was slow and complicated.