Name:
|
- Ambloplites, from the Greek, "blunt armature"
- rupestris, from the Latin, "living among rocks"
- Common name from its preferred habitat
- Other common names include: Black Perch, Goggle Eye, Northern Rock Bass,
Redeye, Redeye Bass, Rock Sunfish
|
Taxonomy:
|
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata, animals with a spinal chord
- Subphylum Vertebrata, animals with a backbone
- Superclass Osteichthyes, bony fishes
- Class Actinopterygii, ray-finned and spiny rayed fishes
- Subclass Neopterygii
- Infraclass Teleostei
- Superorder Acanthopterygii,
- Order Perciformes, the perch-like fishes
- Suborder Percoidei
- Family Centrarchidae, the sunfishes
- Genus Ambloplites, the rock basses
|
Description:
|
- A stout and heavy-bodied sunfish
- Length seldom exceeds 10"
- Weight to one pound
- Color
- olive colored with brassy reflections and dark mottlings along the sides;
brassy flanks with black spots
- whitish breast and belly
- spots on lower side form prominent horizontal lines.
- brown mottling and faint banding on the anal, dorsal and tail fins
- Body
- anal fin of 6 spines
- dorsal fin of 12 spines; the spiny dorsal fin and soft dorsal fin are broadly
connected but without a notch. Dorsal fin much longer and more pronounced
than the anal fin.
- pectoral fins rounded, set low and amber in color.
- Head
- large mouth, extending beyond mid-eye when the mouth is closed
- eyes red
- Lifespan to 13 years.
|
Identification:
|
- Field Marks
- red eye
- dark gill flap
- jaw extending beyond midpoint of eye
- Distinguished from other sunfish by 6 anal fin spines and 12 dorsal fin
spines.
|
Distribution:
|
- Southern Canada, south through the Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico.
|
Habitat:
|
- Prefers streams and lakes with clear, well-oxygenated, hard water, and
boulder and sand bottoms.
- Generally found under cover of rocks, ledges, logs, or overhanging branches.
- Shares the same environment with Smallmouth Bass, and their food habits
are quite similar, except smallmouth are far more piscivorous.
|
Food:
|
- Minnows and other small fish; aquatic and terrestrial insects, crayfish,
mollusks, and other invertebrates. Extremely opportunistic.
- Young consume zooplankton
as primary forage, adding aquatic insects and small fish as they grow larger.
- Moves and feeds most actively at twilight, or at all hours on overcast
days.
|
History:
|
- Minnesota Record: 2lbs, 0oz., from Osakis Lake (Todd County).
- U.S. Record: 3 lbs, from Sugar Creek, Indiana (6/13/69)
|
Uses:
|
- True to name, often caught in streams close to the rocks near the current.
- Seldom achieves remarkable size and usually caught when fishing for other
species.
- Considered a pest by most fisherpersons for damaging baits intended for
more desirable species.
|
Reproduction:
|
- Spawns in spring, when the water temperature ranges from the high 60ºs
into the 70ºs. Spawning coincides with that of smallmouth bass.
- Male fans out a nest in coarse sand or gravel and guards the eggs and fry.
- Females contain an average of 5,000 eggs, but one or several fish may deposit
part or all of their eggs in a single nest.
- After hatching, the young fish are found only in quiet water areas protected
from waves and strong current. Grow 1½"-2" first year, reaching
5"-7" after 3 years.
|
Comments:
|
A sedentary and secretive fish spending much of its time passively hiding
in the shadows of underwater structures.
|
Links:
|
|
|
Last updated on 15 October 1999
|
