2008. Alabama Wildlife 28(1):28-29.
Shoal Bass of Alabama:
From Prolific to Protected
By Mike Maceina and David Stormer, Department of Fisheries, Auburn University
D
id you know that five of the seven black bass species
found throughout North America can be found and
caught by anglers right here in Alabama? While that
diversity might reflect Alabama’s ability to sustain a
variety of bass species, it does not mirror the state’s grim population status of one bass species in particular—shoal bass. As dams
and other structures have been built to accommodate rising human
populations, river characteristics have changed and habitat availability has been decreased. Shoal bass are ranked as the rarest and
least common black bass species in the state. Still, there is hope for
this species of concern. Researchers are discovering that the key to
sustaining existing populations is understanding the unique habitat
requirements of this special fish.
Home Range
Shoal bass are not the only Alabama bass natives. Largemouth
bass, spotted bass, smallmouth bass and redeye bass are also found
here. Shoal bass are found exclusively in the Apalachicola River
drainages, including the Chattahoochee (Alabama-Georgia), Flint
(Georgia) and Chipola (Florida ) river systems. In Alabama waters
alone, shoal bass were known to occur in Wehadkee, Osanippa,
Halawakee, Wacoochee, and the Little Uchee Creeks located in
east-central Alabama. All these streams flow east to southeast into
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Alabama Wildlife
s p r i n g 2008
the Chattahoochee River and cross what is referred to as the fall line,
which demarcates the end of the Appalachian Mountain chain in
Alabama. Shoal bass cannot persist in reservoirs, lakes, and ponds
and are found exclusively in flowing waters. As their name suggests,
these fish frequent shoals where these streams drop in elevation. In
fact, the scientific name for shoal bass is Micropterus cataractae, and
in Latin, “cataractae” means waterfalls. In the early 1970s, an Auburn
University study conducted on the Chattahoochee River, before the
dam at West Point Lake was built, found that these fish were common in the river. Unfortunately, these fish disappeared from the reservoir after impoundment, and in routine surveys of Lakes Harding
and Eufaula, which are impoundments of the Chattahoochee River,
shoal bass have not been collected. Finally, shoal bass were listed as
a species of special concern in Alabama in 2004.
Study Area and Methods
In Osanippa, Halawakee, Wacoochee, and Little Uchee Creeks,
we canoed about 31 miles and found only about four miles of suitable shoal habitat that might support shoal bass. Along these streams,
human habitation was very minimal or not visible from the tree
channel, mature, overhanging trees shaded the streams, and a few
waterfalls dropped 10 to 12 feet into plunge pools.
To collect shoal bass, we used a backpack electrofisher that mild-
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ly stunned fish so that information could
be gathered before the fish was released
alive. A tiny electronic Passive Integrated
Transponder (PIT) tag containing a unique
number was injected into all shoal bass
over 6 inches, so that if we recaptured the
fish, we could determine growth rates and
movement.
Only one substantial population of
shoal bass was found in Alabama. This single
large population of shoal bass inhabited
about 700 yards of stream, and we collected
shoal bass weighing up to 5 lbs. We did not
find shoal bass in small streams with lots of
rocks and flow, but we did find largemouth
bass and spotted bass. Shoal bass appear to
live only in medium to larger streams in eastcentral Alabama and can easily be confused
with spotted bass. Shoal bass have a bright
red eye and vertical blotches that are dusky
to dark green. Spotted bass have many small
spots on the lower part of the body and very
small teeth on top of their tongue, a characteristic which shoal bass lack.
Fish Findings
To determine movement, behavior, and
survival of shoal bass, we inserted 24 of the
fish with radio tags that lasted about 250
days. We found that shoal bass moved very
little and tended to stay within a 200-yard
home range. The farthest distance any single
shoal bass traveled was less than half a mile.
These fish were tightly associated with large
boulders and bedrock that provided a hole
or crevice in which to live, and most fish
were found in two to three feet of water.
Although water was flowing in the shoals,
shoal bass were found at very low current
velocities in eddies, and they maintained
their position in the protection of large rocks
and boulders. During the summer and fall
of 2006, as drought conditions persisted
in east-central Alabama, shoal bass started
to migrate more, with some fish seeking
deep holes in the shoal complex. A few fish
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moved downstream into a deep water refuge
containing a sand bottom that did not have
boulders and bedrock--preferred habitat for
shoal bass. These shoal bass survived, while
the remaining shoal bass perished as the
shoal water receded.
Unexpected Wildlife Encounters
Interestingly, two of our radio-tagged
shoal bass were consumed by a great blue
heron and a water moccasin. The great blue
heron captured our radio-tagged shoal bass
and carried it to a nest nearly four miles away,
then consumed the fish and passed the radio
tag into the woods! We found the tag using
an airplane with tracking antennas connected to the wings. As David approached
the fish he did not know was consumed by
a water moccasin, the fish took off into the
woods (very unusual for a fish). The battle
was on, and David got the radio tag back,
but the water moccasin killed a 10-inch
shoal bass! Unfortunately, the rest of the
radio-tagged fish possibly died due to stress
and angling associated with nearly record
low flows in summer and fall 2006.
Promising Research
In the fall of 2006, we collected some
young shoal bass, with the adults successfully spawning during the spring of 2006
six months earlier. Also during that spring,
Dr. Carol Johnston with Auburn University
observed shoal bass spawning and nesting.
Apparently, these fish also spawn in the
holes and crevices of boulders and bedrock
and do not make a wide fanned-out nest
like largemouth bass. Shoal bass appear to
spawn in late April to early May in east
central Alabama, about a month later than
the other black bass species. This difference
is likely due to an adaptation to stream conditions because high fast flowing water in
streams will destroy bass nests and young. By
waiting a month later to spawn, shoal bass
increases the odds of successful reproduction
by avoiding the increased risk of being swept
away and dying during high spring rains.
Species of Concern
Due to the low abundance of shoal
bass in Alabama, the Alabama Division of
Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries placed
a ban on anglers harvesting shoal bass on
October 1, 2006, but fishing is still allowed.
Shoal bass can still be caught and even
kept in the Chattahoochee River between
Alabama and Georgia, and this river lies
within the jurisdiction of Georgia. Currently,
conservation measures are being explored
to bolster shoal bass populations in these
smaller Alabama streams. Young shoal bass
produced from adults collected from the
Chattahoochee River were stocked into three
Alabama streams in January 2008 by the
Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater
Fish. The success of these stockings will be
evaluated over the next two years.
Conservation buffer zones are being
explored to maintain habitat along the
stream banks critical to preserving shoal
bass habitat. Analysis of water flows from
these basins has shown a long-term decrease
of about 40 percent in Uchee Creek since
1950 after accounting for differences in
rainfall over time. Thus, measures should
be taken to maintain water flows in these
streams and prevent excessive withdrawal. The population in east-central Alabama
has grown nearly 70 percent over the past
50 years, which has affected surface water
and ground water supplies that feed these
streams. Unfortunately, shoal bass habitat
has changed in the Chattahoochee River.
While this river may have once served as a
prime area for shoal bass recolonization, now
it is not possible. Nevertheless, shoal bass are
a species of special concern in Alabama, and
efforts are being taken to preserve, maintain,
and enhance existing shoal bass
populations.
1) David and Mike used a backpack electrofisher that gently stunned the fish in order to
collect data before they were re-released alive. 2) Shoal bass can easily be confused with
spotted bass. Defining characteristics of shoal bass include a bright red eye and vertical
splotches that are dusky to dark green. 3) Spotted bass are more clearly identified by the
distinct small spots on the lower part of the body and very small teeth on the top of their
tongue. 4) Little Uchee Creek is one of the last areas in the state where shoal bass are
found exclusively. With occasional waterfalls and little human habitation, areas such as
this provide an ideal habitat for this species of concern.
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