Editing Micropterus (section)

==Species==
Currently, 14 recognized species are placed in this genus:<ref>{{Cite web |title=CAS - Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes |url=https://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmain.asp |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=researcharchive.calacademy.org |language=en}}</ref>

* ''[[Micropterus cahabae]]'' <small>[[Winston H. Baker|W. H. Baker]], [[Rebecca E. Blanton Johansen|Blanton]] & [[Carol E. Johnston|C. E. Johnston]], 2013</small> (Cahaba bass) <ref name=Baker2013>Baker, W.H., Blanton, R.E. & Johnston, C.E. (2013): Diversity within the Redeye Bass, ''Micropterus coosae'' (Perciformes: Centrarchidae) species group, with descriptions of four new species.  ''Zootaxa, 3635 (4): 379–401.''</ref>
* ''[[shoal bass|Micropterus cataractae]]'' <small>[[James David Williams|J. D. Williams]] & [[George H. Burgess|G. H. Burgess]], 1999</small> (shoal bass)
* ''[[Micropterus chattahoochae]]'' <small>W. H. Baker, Blanton & C. E. Johnston, 2013</small> (Chattahoochee bass) <ref name=Baker2013/>
* ''[[redeye bass|Micropterus coosae]]'' <small>[[Carl Leavitt Hubbs|C. L. Hubbs]] & [[Reeve Maclaren Bailey|R. M. Bailey]], 1940</small> (redeye bass)
* ''[[smallmouth bass|Micropterus dolomieu]]'' <small>[[Bernard Germain de Lacépède|Lacépède]], 1802</small> (smallmouth bass) <span style="{{MirrorH}}">[[File:Smallmouth bass.png|70 px]]</span>
* ''[[Alabama bass|Micropterus henshalli]]'' <small>C. L. Hubbs & R. M. Bailey, 1940</small> (Alabama bass)
* ''[[Suwannee bass|Micropterus notius]]'' <small>R. M. Bailey & C. L. Hubbs, 1949</small> (Suwannee bass) [[File:Micropterus notius (white background).jpg|70 px]]
* ''[[spotted bass|Micropterus punctulatus]]'' <small>[[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Rafinesque]], 1819</small> (spotted bass)
* ''[[largemouth bass|Micropterus nigricans]]'' <small>(</small><small>[[Georges Cuvier|Cuvier]], 1828)</small> (largemouth bass) [[File:Largemouth bass - DPLA - (white background).jpg|70 px]]
* ''[[Florida bass|Micropterus salmoides]]'' <small>([[Bernard Germain de Lacépède|Lacépède]], 1802)</small> (Florida bass)
* ''[[Tallapoosa bass|Micropterus tallapoosae]]'' <small>W. H. Baker, Blanton & C. E. Johnston, 2013</small> (Tallapoosa bass) <ref name=Baker2013/>
* ''[[Guadalupe bass|Micropterus treculii]]'' <small>([[Leon Louis Vaillant|Vaillant]] & [[Marie Firmin Bocourt|Bocourt]], 1874)</small> (Guadalupe bass)
* ''[[Micropterus velox]]'' <small>Hubbs & Bailey, 1940</small> (Neosho bass)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Southern smallies |url=https://www.hatchmag.com/articles/southern-smallies/7715632 |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=Hatch Magazine - Fly Fishing, etc. |language=en}}</ref>
* ''[[Micropterus warriorensis]]'' <small>W. H. Baker, Blanton & C. E. Johnston, 2013</small> (warrior bass) <ref name=Baker2013/>

A 15th species, the [[Choctaw bass]] ''Micropterus haiaka'',  has been proposed,<ref name = TBSK>{{cite journal | author1 = Tringali, M.D. | author2 = Barthel, B. | author3 = Seyoum, S. | author4 = Knight, J. | name-list-style = amp  | year = 2013 | url = https://afs.confex.com/afs/2013/webprogram/Paper12291.html | title = Molecular and Morphological Evidence for a Novel Black bass Species Native to Rivers of the East Gulf Coastal Plain]  | website = Proceedings of the Symposium Black Bass Diversity: Multidisciplinary Science for Conservation, Nashville, American Fisheries Society 143rd Annual Meeting | access-date = 21 May 2020}}</ref> but this does not yet appear to have been widely accepted.<ref name="Fishbase">{{FishBase genus|genus=Micropterus|month=December|year=2019}}</ref> A further two species, the Altamaha bass and Bartram's bass, are as yet undescribed and have been included under the redeye bass.<ref name = "Kim2022"/>

A genomic analysis in 2022 described new species and found that the [[Binomial nomenclature|binomial]]s, ''M. salmoides'' and ''M. floridanus'' as used above are misapplied to the largemouth bass and the Florida bass, this study found that ''M. salmoides'' is the valid binomial for the Florida bass, while ''M. floridanus'', is its [[junior synonym]]. They also found that the oldest available binomial for the largemouth bass is ''M. nigricans''.<ref name = "Kim2022">{{cite journal | author1 = Daemin Kim | author2 =Andrew T. Taylor | author3 = Thomas J. Near | name-list-style = & | year = 2022 | title = Phylogenomics and species delimitation of the economically important Black Basses (Micropterus) | journal = Scientific Reports | volume = 12 | issue =1 | pages = 9113 |pmid = 35668124 | pmc = 9170712 | doi = 10.1038/s41598-022-11743-2| bibcode =2022NatSR..12.9113K }}</ref>

A single [[fossil]] species, †''[[Micropterus relictus]]'' <small>Smith, Cavender & Miller, 1975</small> is known from the [[Late Pliocene]] or [[Early Pleistocene]] of [[Jalisco, Mexico]], when it presumably inhabited the [[Lake Chapala]] basin. This is the southernmost species known to have existed, as ''Micropterus'' basses are no longer native to the region. Several indeterminate fossil ''Micropterus'' are known from the [[Miocene]] of Nebraska and Oklahoma, US, with the oldest dating to the [[Middle Miocene]] (16-15 mya).<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |title=Centrarchid Fishes |date=2009 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781444316032 |language=en |doi=10.1002/9781444316032 |isbn=978-1-4051-3342-5 |editor-last1=Cooke |editor-last2=Philipp |editor-first1=S. J. |editor-first2=D. P. }}</ref>