Micropterus is a genus of North American freshwater fish collectively known as the black bass, which belong to the sunfish family Centrarchidae of order Centrarchiformes.

Micropterus are widely distributed east of the Rocky Mountains, from the Hudson Bay basin in Canada to northeastern Mexico.

Several species, notably the largemouth and smallmouth bass, have been very widely introduced throughout the world, and are now considered cosmopolitan.

[citation needed] All black bass species have a dull-green base coloring with dark patterns on the sides.

Various black bass species have been introduced into freshwater bodies outside North America, where they become invasive in many instances.