| Redeye Bass | |
|---|---|
| Typical Redeye Bass from a stream in the Coosa River watershed, N. Georgia (Released) | |
| Conservation status | |
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NR
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Centrarchidae |
| Genus: | Micropterus |
| Species: | M. coosae |
| Binomial name | |
| Micropterus coosae Hubbs & Bailey, 1940 |
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The Redeye bass (Micropterus coosae) is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) 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, Alabama, and streams in central Kentucky, and West Virginia, and is uncommon compared to the other species. The waters it is normally found in are cool streams and rivers in the foothills of mountains.
The upper jaw (maxilla) extends to the back of the eye, which is usually red. There are dark bars on the side, which fade to lighter color in the center.
Growing to a maximum reported overall length of 47 cm (19 in), the redeye bass is one of the smaller black basses. The probable world record for Redeye bass is 5 lb 2.5 oz (2.34 kg) from Lake Jocassee in South Carolina.[1] Many Redeye bass world record listings, especially those over 5 lb (2.3 kg) are actually records for the shoal bass (Micropterus cataractae) which was commonly called Redeye bass.
Its main food tends to be insects.
The rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris), a distinct species of Centrarchid, is sometimes called the redeye or redeye bass in Canada.