Rock Bass

Description:

The rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris, Ambloplites constellatus), also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, or red eye is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) of order Perciformes. They are similar in appearance to smallmouth bass but are usually quite a bit smaller. The average rock bass is between 6-10 inches, and they are rarely over a pound. Rock bass are native to the St Lawrence River and Great Lakes system, the upper and middle Mississippi River basin in North America from Québec to Saskatchewan in the north down to Missouri and Arkansas, and throughout the eastern U.S. from New York through Kentucky and Tennessee to the northern portions of Alabama and Georgia and Florida in the south. The rock bass prefers clear, rocky, and vegetated stream pools and lake margins. It is carnivorous, and its diet consists of smaller fish, insects, and crustaceans. Rock bass can be surprisingly unflustered by the presence of human activity, living under lakeside docks and near swimming areas.