Genetic Implications of Introducing Florida Largemouth Bass, Micropterus salmoides floridanus

1991 ◽  
Vol 48 (S1) ◽  
pp. 58-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
David P. Philipp
Keyword(s):  
Largemouth Bass ◽  
Micropterus Salmoides ◽  
The Other ◽  
First Year ◽  
Native Range ◽  
Genetic Composition ◽  
Natural Spawning ◽  
Experimental Populations ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Breeding Pool

Stocks of northern largemouth bass (NLMB), Micropterus salmoides salmoides, Florida largemouth bass (FLMB), M. s. floridanus, and both reciprocal F1 hybrids were produced through natural spawning; the genetic composition of each stock was confirmed electrophoreticaliy, and experimental populations established. One set of experimental populations (P1 and P2) contained as broodstock equal numbers of adult NLMB and FLMB, whereas the other set (H1 and H2) initially contained equal numbers of adults of both reciprocal F1 hybrids and both pure subspecies. Each year-class produced experimentally were sampled and individuals analyzed genetically to determine their parentage. Initially, much of the YOY production in P1 and P2 was composed of small FLMB that did not survive winter well; once naturally produced F1 hybrids entered the breeding pool, most offspring were Fx hybrids, and the population became heavily introgressed. In H1 and H2 introgression began with the production of the first year-class. Within each year-class NLMB produced in all ponds were significantly larger than all other genotypes, but it appears likely that after only a few generations, production of pure NLMB ceases, all individuals being Fx hybrids. Results illustrate the potential negative impacts of introducing FLMB or hybrids between it and NLMB into waters within or contiguous to the native range of the northern subspecies.

Fishing Mortality and Habitat Loss Affect Largemouth Bass Fishery in the Potomac River (Maryland)

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 140-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph W. Love ◽  
Mary Groves ◽  
Branson D. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Population Size ◽  
Habitat Loss ◽  
Largemouth Bass ◽  
Aquatic Vegetation ◽  
Micropterus Salmoides ◽  
The United States ◽  
Potomac River ◽  
Fishing Mortality ◽  
Catch And Release ◽  
Negative Impacts

Abstract Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides is arguably the most popular sport fish of inland waters in the United States. The majority of anglers in the fishery practice catch and release. Catch-and-release guidelines aim to reduce negative impacts of angling on individual fish, though such impacts on populations are not widely reported. We hypothesized that a decline in the population size for Largemouth Bass from a catch-and-release fishery from the Potomac River resulted from a period of greater fishing mortality followed by habitat loss that reduced the recovery of the population. After we analyzed several years of fishery-dependent and independent data (1999–2015), it was determined that fishing mortality and relative exploitation were greater than average in the latter half of the 2000s than in previous years. Fishery-independent survey results suggested a loss of large fish and decline in population size. The relative abundance of juveniles subsequently declined possibly because the area of submerged aquatic vegetation used as nursery habitat had declined after tropical storms. For management purposes, we suggest that fishing mortality not exceed 28% for a sustainable fishery (assuming similar levels of natural mortality) in the Potomac River. Negative impacts to Largemouth Bass populations could be lessened by reduced harvest and widespread enforcement of catch-and-release guidelines, especially during times when angler effort is high, fish are highly accessible to anglers in the fishery, and habitat loss limits recruitment.

Black Bass Diversity: Multidisciplinary Science for Conservation

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Largemouth Bass ◽  
Selective Breeding ◽  
Micropterus Salmoides ◽  
Smallmouth Bass ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Negative Impacts

<em>Abstract</em>.—Long-term studies in Ontario, Canada on Largemouth Bass <em>Micropterus salmoides</em> and Smallmouth Bass <em>M. dolomieu</em> have demonstrated that angling nesting males (both catch and harvest and catch and release) can have negative impacts on the reproductive success for the captured individual. They have also demonstrated that within a population, the male bass that provide the best and longest parental care for their offspring are the most capable of having the greatest relative contribution to the year-class. Furthermore, those males are also the most aggressive toward potential brood predators and, hence, the most vulnerable to angling. Based on those relationships, we postulated that angling in general, and especially angling for nesting bass, results in selection against aggressive individuals in a population, and as a result, the angled population evolves to become less aggressive, containing males with diminished parental care attributes, an example of fisheries-induced evolution (FIE). We recognize, however, that some change towards less aggressive behaviors may also result from learning and phenotypic plasticity. Controlled, long-term selective breeding experiments over 30+ years have, however, documented the heritability of vulnerability of bass to angling and, hence, the potential for selection to act on that trait. Reproductive competition experiments further demonstrated that the highly vulnerable strain of bass produced in those selective breeding experiments indeed had greater reproductive success than the less vulnerable strain. Because angling for Largemouth Bass has been occurring for decades, we also postulated that there should be some evidence in the wild of this FIE. In fact, we did find that the level of vulnerability to angling of nesting male Largemouth Bass in lakes that have had little to no exploitation was significantly greater than that observed for nesting males in moderately and heavily angled populations.

Interactions among adult demography, spawning date, growth rate, predation, overwinter mortality, and the recruitment of largemouth bass in a northern lake

1998 ◽  
Vol 55 (12) ◽  
pp. 2588-2600 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M Post ◽  
James F Kitchell ◽  
James R Hodgson
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Largemouth Bass ◽  
Micropterus Salmoides ◽  
First Year ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Selective Predation ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Overwinter Mortality ◽  
First Year Of Life

Using 12 years of data, we evaluated the mechanisms controlling largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, recruitment in a lake near the northern extent of the largemouth bass range. We found that complex interactions among adult demographics, size-selective predation, and overwinter mortality regulate the number of largemouth bass surviving the first year of life. The largest recruitment events required at least a moderate number of adults, but a large number of adults was not sufficient to produce a large cohort of largemouth bass. Predation was controlled by the number of both adult and juvenile bass and was not strongly correlated with reproductive output. Overwinter mortality was size dependent, strongly affecting bass entering the winter at <50-60 mm in length, and likely the result of starvation. Predation and overwinter mortality interacted with spawning date and growth rate to produce variable but predictable patterns of first year survival. At high adult and juvenile densities, predation regulates first year survival. At low adult and juvenile densities, first year survival was regulated by adult demographics and interactions among spawning date, growth rates, and overwinter mortality. Although we can forecast coarse patterns of cohort survival, the survival of individual fish was more difficult to predict because length and age were not highly correlated.

Separating genetic and environmental influences on temporal spawning distributions of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides)

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (11) ◽  
pp. 2391-2399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark W Rogers ◽  
Micheal S Allen ◽  
Wesley F Porak
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Largemouth Bass ◽  
Micropterus Salmoides ◽  
Spawning Season ◽  
Source Population ◽  
Lake Okeechobee ◽  
Genetic Composition ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Spawning Periodicity ◽  
Source Populations

Environmental and genetic factors influence fish spawning periodicity (i.e., the distribution of spawning events during the breeding season), but their relative contributions have rarely been evaluated. We evaluated the relative contribution of genetic and environmental effects on spawning periodicity by rearing Florida largemouth bass (FLMB, Micropterus salmoides floridanus) from Lake Okeechobee and intergrade largemouth bass (ILMB, Micropterus salmoides salmoides × M. s. floridanus) from Lake Seminole in a similar environment. Fish from each genetic source population were translocated to experimental ponds at an intermediate latitude in Gainesville, Florida, in September 2003. We used estimated ages of offspring as an index of spawning events to compare spawning distributions between brood sources in ponds and related those results to spawning distributions at source populations for 2004. FLMB began spawning earlier than ILMB in all ponds, and FLMB had a longer spawning season than ILMB. Similarly, FLMB at Lake Okeechobee began spawning earlier and had a longer spawning season than ILMB at Lake Seminole. Environmental factors (e.g., temperature effects) influenced spawning periodicity for both FLMB and ILMB, but spawning periodicity was also influenced by genetic composition in ponds because translocated fish reflected characteristics of their source populations. Thus, both environmental factors and genetic composition influenced spawning periodicity.

First-year growth and recruitment of coastal largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides): spatial patterns unresolved by critical periods along a salinity gradient

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (9) ◽  
pp. 1911-1924 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam C Peer ◽  
Dennis R DeVries ◽  
Russell A Wright
Keyword(s):  
Largemouth Bass ◽  
Salinity Gradient ◽  
Micropterus Salmoides ◽  
First Year ◽  
Winter Mortality ◽  
Heterogeneous Environments ◽  
Critical Periods ◽  
Hatch Date ◽  
Growth Differences ◽  
Food Consumed

Although critical periods often explain first-year growth and recruitment patterns of young fishes, isolated subpopulations in spatially heterogeneous environments can be influenced by distinct factors, preventing critical periods from explaining growth and recruitment for the overall population. When we explored first-year growth and recruitment variability of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) along an upstream–downstream gradient in the Mobile–Tensaw Delta, Alabama, USA, growth was consistently faster at sites closest to or within brackish habitats in 2002 and 2003, despite different abiotic conditions between years. Energetic content of food consumed by faster-growing fish, particularly those furthest downstream, was greater than that for slower-growing fish. Although the timing of the switch to piscivory did not explain growth differences, the degree of piscivory was important. Hatch date had no influence on growth differences and consequently did not affect fall condition, overwinter survival, or age-1 recruitment. Contrary to several studies in freshwater systems at this latitude, first-winter mortality was neither size-selective nor excessive, and largemouth bass continued to grow through the winter. These results demonstrate that early growth can vary substantially among subpopulations in spatially heterogeneous environments and that these differences are not necessarily explained by the same factors thought to be important for freshwater largemouth bass populations.

Osmoregulatory Failure and Death of First-Year Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides) Exposed to Low pH and Elevated Aluminum, at Low Temperature in Soft Water

1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 1189-1197 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Howard McCormick ◽  
Kathleen M. Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Largemouth Bass ◽  
Condition Factor ◽  
Micropterus Salmoides ◽  
First Year ◽  
Survival Times ◽  
Treatment Groups ◽  
Blood Osmolality ◽  
Probability Of Survival ◽  
Osmotic Homeostasis ◽  
Increasing Temperature

Young-of-the-year largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) were exposed to pH levels from 8.0 to 4.5 in two water types, 1.5 and 13.4 mgCa/L. Exposures were conducted at 3.8 °C for 113 d, followed by 14 d of increasing temperature to 18 °C. Two treatments in the softer water, one each at pH 5.0 and 4.5, had Al added to attain 30 μg Al/L; all other treatments were at approximately 5 μg Al/L. The condition factor of fish in all treatment groups declined with exposure time at 3.8 °C. Fish in the 13.4 mg Ca/L water maintained osmotic homeostasis through pH 5.0. In the 1.5 mg Ca/L water, osmotic homeostasis was lost at pH 4.5 and at pH 5.0 when Al was added. Mortalities were most prevalent when exposed in the 1.5 mg Ca/L water with added Al. The probability of survival was directly correlated with blood osmolality; no correlation was found between survival probability and condition factor. A rise in blood osmolality occurred among fish from most exposure groups when the temperature was increased to 18 °C. When fish from these chronic treatments were challenged at pH 3.8, they had shorter survival times in the softer water and after longer preexposures.

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