Translations:Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Nature/Fishes/22/en
Largemouth Bass
Micropterus salmoides
Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides)
Where found: Native to the central and southeastern United States, the largemouth bass has been introduced throughout most of the United States and Canada.&
Description: The largemouth is marked by a series of dark, sometimes black, blotches forming a jagged horizontal stripe along each flank. The upper jaw of a largemouth bass extends beyond the rear edge of the eye.
Diet: The juvenile largemouth bass consumes mostly zooplankton and insects. Adults consume small fish, crayfish, and frogs. Prey items can be as large as 25 to 35% of the bass's body length. Largemouth bass have even been reported to take small birds, small mammals, such as mice and rats and small snakes.
Reproduction: Spawning occurs in shallow areas of lakes and ponds in the spring. Males arrive first, selecting a territory on fine gravel, coarse sand or among sparse vegetation. The male will slightly clear, using his fins, a shallow depression into which he will entice a female to deposit her eggs. Females can lay up to a million eggs during each season. The male guards the embryos until the larvae hatch and then will continue to guard the "fry" until they disperse from the nest. During the guarding period, the male ferociously attacks any potential predators that approach too closely.
