The Shoal Bass (Micropterus cataractae) is one of a number of unique, lesser-known native bass species that have very restricted distributions. Juveniles and adults of this species require riffle and pool habitat with clean gravel substrate for spawning. Although the exact mechanism of population declines for this species has not been proven, the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint basin where Shoal Bass occur is the second-most impounded basin east of the Mississippi River, with more than 1,400 impoundments. The dams have fragmented and destroyed habitats through inundation, altered water flows, changed temperature regimes, and allowed the establishment of similar competing non-native basses, such as the Spotted Bass.
