Largemouth bass
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The Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) is a species of fish.
Physical Description
The largemouth bass is marked by a series of dark blotches forming a ragged horizontal stripe along the length of each side ("lateral lines"). It can also be totally black. The lateral lines are used by a largemouth bass as motion detectors to locate prey or avoid being prey at night or in other dark water conditions. The upper jaw of a largemouth bass extends beyond the back of the eye. The average largemouth bass weighs 1 to 2 pounds and between 8 and 18 inches long. The largest of the black basses, it has reached a maximum recorded overall length of 97 cm (38 in), and a maximum recorded weight of 10 kg (22 lb). It can live as long as 23 years, and, along with the black crappie, is also known as the Oswego bass.Reproduction
Largemouth usually spawn in shallow bays in the spring. Females can lay up to a million eggs during each spawn in a shallow depression in the ground formed by the male. The male will then guard the eggs and the newly-hatched fry until they disperse, driving away any predators that come too close to the nest site.Interaction with humans
Largemouth, though preyed upon by larger animals or other fishes when young, usually occupy the apex predator niche when older, which dignifies them with a level of sporting prestige as quarry. Largemouth put up a very respectable fight for the sport fisherman, though many say their cousin species the smallmouth bass can best them pound for pound. Largemouth are usually fished for with lures, and it is common amongst anglers to release them alive. Largemouth respond well to catch and release because of their hardiness, and the ability of their large mouth to withstand repeated hook injuries without compromising their ability to feed or damaging their gills.
The IGFA's officially recognized heaviest largemouth bass on record was caught by George Perry at Montgomery Lake in Telfair County, Georgia, on June 2, 1932, and it weighed 22 lb. 4 oz. (10.1 kg). This was surpassed in March 2006 when Mac Weakley, of Carlsbad, California, pulled a 25 lb. 1 oz. largemouth bass into his fishing boat. [link] However, the bass was not hooked in the mouth, was weighed on an uncertified hand-held digital scale, and then released, placing its' official recognition by the IGFA as the new world record in an ongoing dispute.[link]
The largemouth bass is the state fish of Georgia and Mississippi.
References
- FishBase: [Micropterus salmoides]
- ITIS: [Micropterus salmoides]
- B.A.S.S.: [Bass Anglers Sportsman Society]
- Byerly, Tracy. "[Micropterus salmoides: Information]". Animal Diversity Web. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, 2000.
- "[Ecology of Microptera salmoides]". Global Invasive Species Database. Updated 22 September 2004.
- Rohde, F. C., et al. Freshwater Fishes of the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994.
- "[World Record Bass - maybe - pulled from Lake Dixon]" San Diego Union-Tribune, March 20, 2006
- "[Bass fisherman decides not to submit papers for record]" San Diego Union-Tribune, March 22, 2006
- [Largemouth Bass information]
- [Interview of the President by Kai Diekmann of BILD]
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