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Variation in the Growth of the Initial Year Class of Largemouth Bass in West Point Reservoir, Alabama and Georgia
Author(s) -
Shelton William L.,
Davies William D.,
King Terry A.,
Timmons Tom J.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1979)108<142:vitgot>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - micropterus , bass (fish) , fishery , economic shortage , population , biology , fish <actinopterygii> , predation , geography , environmental science , zoology , ecology , demography , linguistics , philosophy , government (linguistics) , sociology
West Point Reservoir, Alabama and Georgia, first reached full pool in spring 1975. Growth within the initial year class of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) was highly variable. During the first summer of impoundment, length frequencies of the 1975 year class were characterized by a single mode. However, there was an obvious condition difference among individuals within the population. Generally, fish longer than 17 cm total length were in relatively good condition and those 8–17 cm long were in relatively poor condition. By fall (September‐October), one segment of the population had grown rapidly but the other segment had grown little and a bimodal length‐frequency distribution was evident. A shortage of available prey for the smaller fish was considered to be the cause of the growth disparity.