The smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) of the order Perciformes. One of the black basses, it is a popular game fish and has been widely stocked in cool-water tributaries and lakes in Canada and the United States. It is native to the upper and middle Mississippi River basin, the Saint Lawrence River-Great Lakes system, and up into the Hudson Bay bay basin. Found in clearer and cooler water than the largemouth, especially streams, rivers, and rocky areas with submerged stumps. It is also sometimes called the brown bass and bronzeback.