Distribution in local area:
Baptiste Lake, Bow Lake, Cardwell
Lake, Cashel Lake, Egan Lake, Fraser Lake, Galeairy
Lake, Gin Lake, Gunter Lake, Hay Lake, Lake St. Ola,
Limerick Lake, Lower Paudash Lake, Mallard Lake, Mephisto
Lake, Papineau Lake, Spring Lake, Steenburg Lake, Tait
Lake, Watt Lake, Weslemkoon Lake, Wollaston Lake,
Name:
Micropterus, from the Greek,
"small fin"
salmoides, from the Latin, salmo, "trout";
hence "trout-like"
Common name from large mouth, the line of which extends
back past the eye.
Other common names include: Bigmouth Bass, Bigmouth
Trout, Black Bass, Bucketmouth Bass, Green Bass, Green
Trout, Hawg, Hog, Lineside, Lake Bass, Openmouth Bass,
Oswego Bass, Slough Bass,Welshman.
Taxonomy:
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata, animals with a spinal chord
Subphylum Vertebrata, animals with a backbone
Superclass Osteichthyes, bony fishes
Class Actinopterygii, ray-finned and spiny rayed fishes
Subclass Neopterygii
Infraclass Teleostei
Superorder Acanthopterygii,
Order Perciformes, perch-like fishes
Suborder Percoidei
Family Centrarchidae, sunfish
Genus Micropterus, black bass, largemouth bass
Description:
A rather slender, streamlined
sunfish, with a very large mouth and an appetite to
match.
Length:
Commonly to 16"
Weight:
The northern strain of largemouth
seldom exceeds 10lbs the southern subspecies (M. salmoides
floridanus) is much larger
Coloration:
dark green on top silvery green
to yellow green flanks belly white to yellowish dark,
irregular stripe along side eye usually gold
Body:
Spiny and soft portions of the
dorsal fin are separated by a deep notch. Head
upper and lower jaws extend past the gold-colored eye
Lifespan:
To 13 years. Identification:
Largemouth bass can be recognized by the lower jaw which
extends past the back edge of the eye.
Distinguished from its smallmouth cousin by:
Its proportionately large mouth;
upper jaw extends beyond the eye spiny first dorsal
fin nearly separate from soft-rayed second fin
Habitat:
Though tolerant of turbid water,
it favors lakes with clear water, sandy shallows, and
abundant rooted aquatic weeds; also slow moving rivers
or streams with soft bottoms. Many species of pondweeds,
water lilies, coontail, elodea, cattails, and bulrushes
provide excellent cover.
A "warm-water" species, it flourishes in waters
warmer than 80º F. and can survive temperatures
into the mid-90's.
In still water, nearly always near vegetation or other
underwater structure. As the water continues to warm
after the spawn, spend much of their time in the shelter
of thick cover or deeper water.
Foods:
Minnows, Yellow Perch (Perca
flavescens), sunfish, frogs, crayfish, aquatic insects,
and any small living animal or bird hapless enough to
fall in the water. (Sorta like a northern 'gator.)
Feeds largely by sight, but also uses smell and the
ability to feel vibration through the lateral line,
a sense organ that runs longitudinally down their sides.
Experiments have demonstrated its ability to locate
and capture minnows by vibration alone.
Small sac fry feed on microscopic crustaceans, supplemented
with insects and insect larvae as fish grows. Usually
start foraging on fish when 1"-2" long.
During summer, they typically feed near water plants
in shallow waters at evening and early morning.
History:
U.S. Record: 22 lbs, 4 oz, from
Montgomery Lake, Georgia, 1932
Minnesota Record: 8lbs, 13oz, from Tetonka Lake (LeSueur
County). First fish species to be raised in a culture
pond in North America
Uses:
Extremely popular sport fish.
Reproduction:
Spawns
early May into June, in 2'-6' of water over firm sand,
mud, or gravel, when the water temperature is 63 º
to 68 º F.
Male usually fans out a 20"-30" diameter,
saucer-shaped nest with its tail prior to spawning,
but sometimes they will spawn with very little nest
preparation.
Female lays 2,000 to 7,000 eggs per pound of body weight,
deposited on roots of submerged plants or grass. Eggs
hatch in 3 -6 days, depending upon water temperature.
After spawning, female moves off to deep water; male
guards the nest until the eggs hatch and mature into
a swarm of black fry. During this time, the male strikes
savagely at intruding fish (or lures) but does not eat.
When fry reach an inch in length, they leave the nest.
Male resumes feeding and may eat any young bass he encounters.
Largely because of the male's care in building and guarding
nest, many fry survive, and a few adult bass can quickly
populate new waters. There appears no correlation between
number of spawning bass and subsequent number of young.
Success of the spawn depends entirely on good spawning
areas and stable weather. (A severe cold front, for
example, may cause the male to desert the nest. Then
the eggs or fry can be eaten by other fish.)
Both sexes usually reach sexual maturity in third year;
faster growing bass can mature in second year. Male
builds guarding the nest and eggs from all intruders,
until hatching.
Comments:
Interestingly
enough, the generic name for our freshwater bass, Micropterus,
meaning "small fin", is a misnomer. The speciman
from which the genus was named had a damaged fin which
gave the appearance of a small fin behind the dorsal.
This characteristic, needless to say, is not shared
by the other members of the genus. First fish species
to be raised in a culture pond in North America
Ah, taxonomy is such an exacting science...
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