Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1963. / Includes bibliography: leaves [39]-40.

Turbidity is an important measurement of water quality, considering it describes water clarity and is an indirect indicator of light transmittance in the water column. Turbidity may impact fish that rely on vision to forage by affecting ability to search for prey. Largemouth bass (LMB; Micropterus salmoides) is a visual predator that may have lower foraging success resulting in reduced growth, reproduction, or survival under conditions of high turbidity. I conducted a field experiment in Wolf Lake, Mississippi to assess impacts of turbidity on diet and distribution and a laboratory experiment with manipulated turbidity levels (0 – 250 NTU) to assess foraging efficiency of LMB. There were no significant relationships between turbidity and diet or distribution in the field study. However, there were significant effects of turbidity on foraging efficiency in laboratory trials. These results indicate that assessing turbidity is important to manage LMB in systems susceptible to high turbidity levels.

The Northeastern region of Mexico has developed rapidly over the last few decades and reservoir construction has accompanied the growth of the region. As a result, recreational and sport fishing have become very popular. To regulate tournaments and to address growing exploitation concerns the Northeastern state of Nuevo Leon has begun to manage selected freshwater fisheries. Intensive management of warm water recreational species, however, does not have a long history in the region. This assessment was designed to evaluate the population structure and feeding habits of largemouth bass and channel catfish at a small rural fishery in Northeastern Mexico to get insight into mortality, growth, reproduction, and length related feeding patterns. Largemouth bass and channel catfish at La Juventud experience high mortality rates more than likely due to the selective removal of larger-older fish by angling. Extended spawning efforts at lower latitudes have also been implicated in accelerating the mortality of reproductively mature largemouth bass; however, studies regarding the onset, frequency, and duration of largemouth bass spawning in Northeastern Mexico are necessary to determine spawning seasonality and the adverse effects that extended reproduction efforts may have on growth potential. Largemouth bass grow fast during the first year of life and attain large sizes by age 1. Growth of young-of-year may benefit from an early onset of spawning and a long first-growing season, an abundant multi-species forage base of small fish, and frequent utilization of fish. Growth to age 3 and quality size (300 - 380-mm TL) is similar to that of populations from the Southeastern U.S.; however, the growth potential of individuals older than age 3 appeared limited by suitable sizes of prey. Channel catfish mean length-at-age values were similar to the mean of means for length-at-age-3 values of fish in Texas, and larger than the mean values from several regions in the Southern U.S.A. Largemouth bass at La Juventud may spawn early in the year (early spring or earlier than spring) and late in the year (fall). Spawning success; however, may be adversely affected by fluctuating water levels associated with an arid climate and undesirable interactions with other nest spawning species. Day-time gill net collections in 2006 and 2007 may have under sampled channel catfish. Gill net catches were low and variable; thus, interpretation of length, age, and weight data were constrained by small sample size.

Thesis (M.S.)--Texas State University--San Marcos, 2009. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 34-37). Also available on microfilm.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1961. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 144-149).

Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides is the most sought after species by recreational anglers in the United States. Survival of angled and tournament-handled Largemouth Bass is related to numerous factors; however, the independent effects of water temperature, angling time, and live well dissolved oxygen concentration on survival have not been measured. Survival was evaluated in simulated catch and release and tournament trials over the range of temperatures encountered by Largemouth Bass anglers (17-33°C) while also testing independent effects of angling time, live well temperature, and live well dissolved oxygen treatments. Caught-and-released Largemouth Bass experienced 100% survival at temperatures ≤33°C after 1 minute of angling, but survival decreased with additional angling time. Survival declined in tournament-handled fish at 33°C; however, high survival was shown to be possible at ≤29°C after 1-minute angling time, confinement in live wells containing less than ambient temperatures and dissolved oxygen ≥5.5 mg/L, and organized in-water weigh-in procedures.

Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 24-30).

This thesis describes the growth and feeding habits of large mouth bass (Huro salmoides) as observed in North Texas.

Globally largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides is one of the most widely introduced game fish species which has now become invasive in many countries. Well researched in its native North America, there are few studies on this species in its introduced range. This study aims to improve the understanding of the biology and ecology of M. salmoides in temperate southern Africa, where it threatens native biota and supports a popular recreational fishery. This aim was addressed by assessing the age, growth, maturity, reproductive seasonality, feeding, mortality and movement, of two M. salmoides populations from Wriggleswade (1000 ha, 723 m amsl, 32º35'S; 27º33'E) and Mankazana (35 ha, 66 m amsl, 33º09'S; 26º57'E) Dams in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The most suitable structure for ageing M. salmoides was determined by comparing the accuracy and precision of otoliths and scales. Scales tended to underestimate the age of fish older than five years. Sectioned sagittal otoliths were the more precise structures for ageing (otoliths CV = 15.8 vs. scales CV = 21.9). The periodicity of growth zone formation was validated as annual for otoliths using both edge analysis (EA), and mark recapture of chemically tagged fish (MRCT). EA indicated one annual peak in the frequency of opaque margins between September and January using a periodic logistic regression and a binomial model linked with a von Mises distribution for circular data. MRCT showed the linear relationship between time at liberty and number of growth zones distal to the fluorescent band was not significantly different from one (slope = 0.89). Reproduction was similar to that in native and non-native populations with fish reaching age at 50% maturity at ca. two years, and length at 50% maturity at 259-290 mm FL depending on growth rate. Spawning season occurred in the spring months of August to October. The Wriggleswade Dam population reached similar ages (14 yrs) to populations in temperate North America. Growth was described using the von Bertalanffy growth equations of (Lt = 420(1-ᵉ⁻°·³³⁽ᵗ⁺°·²¹⁾) mm FL in Wriggleswade and (Lt = 641(1-ᵉ⁻°·²²⁽ᵗ⁺°·⁷⁶⁾) mm FL in Mankazana. Growth performance of both populations, described using the phi prime index, seemed to be correlated with temperature and the Wriggleswade Dam population (Φ’ = 2.8) grew similarly to those native temperate North American populations and the non-native populations of Japan and Italy. The Mankazana population had a higher growth performance (Φ’ = 2.9) compared to Wriggleswade and growth was comparable to other nonnative African populations. Both populations utilised all available food resources, with the Mankazana population being in better condition than the Wriggleswade population as a result of a more diverse diet, highly abundant food sources throughout the year, and potentially the adoption of a more conservative ambush feeding strategy. The Wriggleswade population, which was utilised by competitive anglers, showed low mortality rates (Z = 0.43 yr⁻¹), and translocated fish dispersed from the common release site, travelling an average distance of 4km over the study time of 494 days. These results indicated that M. salmoides are successful in these environments, growing at expected temperature dependant rates, maturing at two years, using all available food groups, and suffering from low mortality. It is therefore likely that they will persist in South Africa and establish where introduced.

The chemosensory abilities of fishes, are important in order to understand how prey can perceive and avoid predators. Predator-naïve Channel catfish were exposed to four extracts over eight sessions (naïve bass water (NBW), bass that were fed catfish water (BFCW), catfish skin extract (CS), and naïve bass water paired with catfish skin extract (CO)) to determine whether they have an innate predator response to potential chemical cues indicating possible predation risk. Movement was quantified as grid squares crossed, directional changes, and tail beats. Response increased during the first minute following stimulus injection and decreased during the second minute. Channel catfish increased movement upon exposure to stimuli from NBW, CS and CO but not to BFCW. Increased response to bass odor while habituating to catfish skin extract, which presumably contains alarm pheromone, suggests that catfish learned to recognize bass odor without external reinforcement.