— Mountains to Marsh

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I wanted to put together a total list of fish species I’ve caught, just to try and keep a running tab. Hopefully it will continue to grow as I fish more new waters. I think I get just as excited catching new species as I do catching truly big fish. I’m not on any kind of mission to catch a certain number of species, I just think it will be interesting to maintain and revisit the list from time to time. It should also help to serve as a place to ID a fish that you’ve caught, but have no idea what it is. Of course, I’m not a biologist, so take what I post with a grain of salt, most of my knowledge comes from experience, and the internet. In time I will add other freshwater fish from different families, then move on to saltwater, but for now here are the sunfishes.

Warning to some though, things are about to get nerdy. I’ll separate each species according to it’s taxonomy. Today I’ll start in freshwater with the sunfishes, family Centrarchidae, which has 8 genera, and 34 species native to North America. So far I’ve caught 21 of them. It helps to live in the Southeastern U.S. if you want to catch a variety of sunfish.

Where possible I’ll put up a picture and a distribution map of those that I’ve caught. Click the map for more information about that particular species. The distribution maps come from the original NatureServe Explorer or the USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species site. Both are pretty good resources for finding information on specific plants and animals. I did not produce these distribution maps so I can’t confirm their complete accuracy, but I do trust they are mostly accurate.

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Update, June 2018: Both of Lance Coley’s articles on black bass species have gone the way of the do-do. Tim Bonvechio and Patrick Cooney have a pretty good article on black bass up on The Fisheries Blog highlighting the 9 species that the scientific community are in agreement on. Work is being done to add more and those are mentioned in the article as well, so be sure to check it out.

Update, April and August 2021: I added a few new-to-me species this year and updated range maps for species that didn’t have one or where the range map info was old and outdated

Ambloplites – Rock Bass

Ambloplites ariommus – Shadow bass

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shadow bass range — Mountains to Marsh

Ambloplites rupestris – Rock bass

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rock bass range — Mountains to Marsh

Centrarchus – Flier

Centrarchus macropterus – Flier

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flier — Mountains to Marsh

Lepomis – Sunfish

Lepomis auritus – Redbreast sunfish

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redbreast sunfish range — Mountains to Marsh

Lepomis cyanellus – Green sunfish

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green sunfish range — Mountains to Marsh

Lepomis humilis – Orangespotted Sunfish

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orangespottedsunfish — Mountains to Marsh

Lepomis gulosis – Warmouth

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warmouth range — Mountains to Marsh

Lepomis macrochirus – Bluegill

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bluegill range — Mountains to Marsh

Lepomis marginatus – Dollar sunfish

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dollar_sunfish

Lepomis megalotis – Longear sunfish

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longear sunfish range — Mountains to Marsh

Lepomis microlophus – Redear sunfish

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redear sunfish range — Mountains to Marsh

Lepomis miniatus – Redspotted sunfish

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redspotted sunfish range — Mountains to Marsh

Lepomis punctatus – Spotted sunfish

img 6591 — Mountains to Marsh
img 6593 — Mountains to Marsh

Micropterus – Black Bass

Redeye Bass

redeyebass ranges — Mountains to Marsh

Micropterus cahabae – Cahaba bass (formerly Redeye bass, from the Cahaba River drainage)

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Micropterus chattahoochee – Chattahoochee bass (formerly Redeye bass, from the Chattahoochee River drainage)

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Micropterus coosae – Redeye(Coosa) bass (Redeye bass from the Coosa River drainage)

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Micropterus sp. cf. M. coosae – Bartram’s bass (formerly Redeye bass, from the Savannah River drainage)

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Micropterus sp. cf. M. coosae – Altamaha bass (formerly Redeye bass, from the Altamaha River drainage)

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Micropterus tallapoosae – Tallapoosa bass (formerly Redeye bass, from the Tallapoosa River drainage)

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Micropterus warriorensis – Warrior bass (formerly Redeye bass, from the Black Warrior River drainage)

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Smallmouth Bass

smallmouth range — Mountains to Marsh

Micropterus dolomieu dolomieu – (Northern) Smallmouth bass

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Micropterus dolomieu velox – Neosho Smallmouth bass

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Micropterus sp. cf. dolomieu velox – Ouachita Smallmouth bass

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Largemouth Bass

largemouth ranges — Mountains to Marsh

Micropterus salmoides – (Northern) Largemouth bass

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The Other Black Basses

blackbass ranges — Mountains to Marsh

Micropterus cataractae – Shoal bass

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shoalbass

Micropterus treculii – Guadalupe bass

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guadalupe_bass_range

Micropterus hensalli – Alabama bass (formerly Spotted bass, of the Mobile River drainage)

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alabamabass — Mountains to Marsh

Micropterus punctulatus – Spotted bass (Kentucky)

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spottedbass — Mountains to Marsh

Micropterus haiaka – Choctaw bass

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choctaw_bass_map

The newest member of the black bass family as discovered by biologists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Their range falls in between the Alabama bass and the Shoal bass in Gulf draining streams on the Florida panhandle and in Alabama.

Pomoxis – Crappie

Pomoxis annularis – White crappie

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white crappie range — Mountains to Marsh

Pomoxis nigromaculatus – Black crappie

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black crappie range — Mountains to Marsh
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Ethan Smith is a seasoned marine veteran, professional blogger, witty and edgy writer, and an avid hunter. He spent a great deal of his childhood years around the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona. Watching active hunters practise their craft initiated him into the world of hunting and rubrics of outdoor life. He also honed his writing skills by sharing his outdoor experiences with fellow schoolmates through their high school’s magazine. Further along the way, the US Marine Corps got wind of his excellent combination of skills and sought to put them into good use by employing him as a combat correspondent. He now shares his income from this prestigious job with his wife and one kid. Read more >>