Ask A Scientist© Biology Archive

name         CJ 
status       other
age          30s
        
Question -   Are black bass and largemouth bass the same thing?  What is
the scientific name for each?
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The black bass and largemouth bass are the same fish.  In the United
States, it is commonly known as largemouth bass, black bass, green bass,
Oswego bass, slough bass, lake bass, bigmouth, bucket mouth, southern
largemouth, northern largemouth, Florida bass, largmouth black bass, straw
bass, bayou bass, moss bass, grass bass, march bass, trout, green trout,
welchman, and chub.

The scientific name is Micropterus Salmoides (Lacepede).  The taxonomy is
as follows:
        phylum:  Vertebrata
        subphylum:  Craniata
        superclass:  Gnathostomata
        series:  Pisces
        class:  Teleostomi
        subclass:  Actinopterygii
        order:  Perciformes
        suborder:  Percoidei
        family:  Centratchidae

There are two subspecies, first described in about 1949.  Micropterus
Salmoides floridanus (LeSueur)was originally found in fresh waters of
peninsular Florida.  It is now found in some parts of Georgia.  This
subspecies has 14 abdominal vertebrae.

Micropterus Salmoides salmoides (Lacepede) was originally found in fresh
waters of the lower Great Lakes drainage, middle Mississippi River system
south to the Gulf Coast, Florida, and north to the coastal watersheds in
Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.  This subspecies has
15 abdominal vertebrae.

Hybrids have been attempted of these two sub species.  The f1 generation is
very robust and larger, but these diminish sharply in the f2 generation and
beyond.  

What follows are the common names for this fish in different countries:
Australia:  Black bass, freshwater perch, gippoland perch.
Austria:  Forellembarsch, perche truitee
Canada:  Largemouth bass, achigan a grande bouche, and many of the terms
used in the US.
Czech Republic and Slovakia:  okounek pstrukovy, ostracka
France:  Black bass a grande boushe, perche truite.
Germany:  Forellembarsch, grossmauliger forellenbarsch.
Hungary:  Fekete suger, pisztrangsuger
Italy:  persico trota, boccalone
Mexico:  Tucha de patzcuaro, robalo fino, corvina negra, black bass, huro
y otros
Netherlands:  Florellenbaars
Poland:  weilkogebowy, bas weilkohebowy
Portugal:  Black bass, perca americana, perca trucha, boca grande, robal
negro, achiga

You may wish to check _Synopsis of Biological Data on the Largemouth Bass
Micropterus salmoides (Lacepede) 1802_, prepared by Roy C. Heidinger of the
Fisheries Research Laboratory and Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois
University, Carbondale, Illinois.  It is printed by the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome, back in November
1976.  ISBN 92-5-100211-8

Nathan A. Unterman
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