Ozark Bass: Facts & Habitat

About Ozark Bass

The Ozark bass (Ambloplites constellatus) is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) of order Centrarchiformes. It is native only to the White River, Sac River, James River, and Pomme de Terre River drainages of Missouri and Arkansas. The species is commonly referred to as "goggle-eye".

NativeFresh3 states

Description

The Ozark bass is a comparatively slender species of rock bass with a large eye which has a red iris. The brownish-green body has an irregular pattern of black speckling. This species attains a maximum total length of 27.9 centimeters (11.0 in), but they are normally around 13.3 centimeters (5.2 in) and the maximum published weight is 450 grams (0.99 lb).

Distribution

The Ozark bass is native to the Ozarks upland reaches of the White River system in Missouri and Arkansas. They have been introduced elsewhere but have failed to establish populations in those areas.

Habitat and biology

The Ozark bass occurs in creeks and small to medium permanent rivers with high levels of dissolved oxygen, plentiful aquatic vegetation, low turbidity, and sand or rocky beds substrates, with a preference for clear rocky pools close to the banks, boulders, or submerged wood. Males create nests in gravel or small stone substrates, and these are normally situated around a meter of cover. Spawning starts when the water temperature reaches 17 °C (63 °F). The male excavates a nest in sand or gravel which is 20–25 centimeters (8–10 in) in diameter at depths of 30–150 centimeters (1–5 ft). The females lay eggs in the nest, and the male guards the nest until the fry depart.

Relationship with humans

They are a popular game fish in small streams and rivers. The IGFA world record for the species is a two-way tie with fish weighing 0.45 kg (1 lb 0 oz) caught from Bull Shoals Lake in Arkansas and the James River in Missouri.

Article text: Wikipedia contributors, Ozark bass (source revision). Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Diet and feeding

The FishTraits compilation records these diet categories for this species: invertebrates or larval fish; larger animal prey (a source category covering fish, crayfish, crabs, or frogs). These are broad categories, not a claim that every individual consumes every example in a category.

Reported feeding positions include bottom feeding and surface or water-column feeding. The compilation combines published observations; diets can vary with age, locality, and available food.

Habitat preferences

Reported habitat associations include medium to large rivers, streams and small rivers, still-water habitats.

The source records associations with muck, gravel, cobble, boulders, vegetation. An association indicates reported use, rather than an exclusive requirement.

Reproduction and parental care

The compilation reports a representative maturity age of 3 years. Its maturity field summarizes mean, median, or modal estimates, usually for females; male estimates can be used when female data are unavailable. It is not a fixed age at which every fish first breeds.

Recorded spawning months are Apr, May, Jun for the source’s reporting region (AR). This is a regional calendar, not a range-wide schedule.

The reproductive-guild classification includes guarding eggs or young at a spawning substrate or nest.

Size and recorded longevity

FishTraits reports a maximum total length of 27.9 centimetres. Some entries use an estimated asymptotic length; this value should not be treated as a certified record catch.

Recorded longevity in the compilation is 8 years. Wild observations were preferred, but captive records were accepted where wild records were unavailable, and unspecified records were assumed wild. The value is not a guaranteed wild lifespan or an aquarium life expectancy.

Native range

Upper White River drainage in Arkansas and Missouri (Cashner and Suttkus 1977; Robison and Buchanan 1988; Page and Burr 1991).

Introduction history

Intentionally stocked for sport. Distributed by the Arkansas state fish hatchery at Centerton before it was determined to be a separate species from A. rupestris (Cashner and Suttkus 1977; Robison and Buchanan 1988). Stock from this species native range was also used in stocking drainages around Missouri (Cashner and Suttkus 1977).

Record fish

The Arkansas state record

Arkansas1 lb., 1 oz.
Norfork Lake · 05/12/2014 · Dan Biery, Clinton, AR · rod and reel

Each figure is the state agency’s own certified record. The site holds record tables for 11 states so far, so a state missing here has not been read yet. It is not a state where this fish holds no record.

Range

Where it lives

82.2%of mapped records

Share of 499 GBIF observation records with a state location, across 3 states. The orange dots are USGS stream-survey sites where this species was caught.

A blank area on the dot layer usually means nobody sampled there, not that the fish is absent. Turn on “every survey site” to see where the survey looked.

Share of records by state

The USGS stream survey caught it at 77 of its sites, in 3 states. That survey and the GBIF records are two different counts of two different things, so the site keeps them apart.

Habitat

Water and movement

Water: WoRMS records this species in fresh water.
USGS NAS habitat: Freshwater
US status: Native transplant — native to part of the United States, moved to other waters inside it.
Migration: Undetermined

Classification

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Superclass: Actinopterygii
Class: Teleostei
Order: Perciformes
Family: Centrarchidae
Genus: Ambloplites
Species: Ambloplites constellatus
ITIS TSN: 168100
WoRMS AphiaID: 1012694
GBIF key: 2394513

Common questions about Ozark Bass

What is the scientific name of Ozark Bass?

The scientific name is Ambloplites constellatus, in the family Centrarchidae. Classification follows ITIS.

Does Ozark Bass live in fresh water or salt water?

WoRMS records this species in fresh water.

Where has Ozark Bass been recorded in the United States?

GBIF has observations in 3 states, with the most records in Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma. The map shows observation records, which do not establish the complete natural range.

Closest relatives