What type of water body does the White Bass generally favor over Yellow Bass?
Cooler, large bodies of fresh water
The ecological preferences of the Yellow Bass and White Bass are distinct, reflecting their specialized evolutionary paths within the *Morone* genus. The Yellow Bass thrives in a niche characterized by warmer temperatures and slower flow rates, common in the vast drainage systems of the central United States. In contrast, the White Bass generally exhibits a preference for larger bodies of fresh water that tend to be cooler in temperature. This divergence in habitat preference—riverine and warm for the Yellow Bass versus large lake and cool for the White Bass—is a result of environmental selection pressures. The White Bass's colonization of clearer, deeper lake environments likely drove the fixation of traits different from those selected for in the main channel dynamics where the Yellow Bass is dominant.
