Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T02:12:37.718Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Morphological variation in largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides in Lake Biwa, Japan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 March 2010

Yoshimasa Yamamoto  and
Hajime Tsukada
Yoshimasa Yamamoto*
Affiliation:
Division of Applied Biosciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawaoiwake-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan Present address: Research Center for Environmental Changes, Academia Sinica, 128, Sec. 2, Academia Rd. Taipei 11529, Taiwan
Hajime Tsukada
Affiliation:
Division of Applied Biosciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawaoiwake-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan Present address: Environmental Optimization Laboratory Co., LTD., 2-12-12 Innai, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-0018, Japan
*
[email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, have inhabited Lake Biwa in central Japan for over three decades as top predators. Lake Biwa consists of two basins – a large, deep north basin and a small, shallow south basin. Since the mid 1990s, vegetation and bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus, have thrived in the lake – especially in the south basin. Because dense vegetation can mediate the predator-prey relationship between largemouth bass and bluegill, the largemouth bass in the south basin are assumed to be under less favorable conditions than those in the north basin. The length-weight relationship of the largemouth bass in the two basins differed; the body weights of largemouth bass in the north basin significantly exceeded those in the south basin. Moreover, largemouth bass in the south basin appeared to have significantly larger gapes than those in the north basin. Such fish in the south basin were likely selected during and after the ontogenetic diet shift stage, probably because they are capable of handling bluegill more efficiently than those with normal-sized gapes.

Keywords

Largemouth bassmorphologylength-weight relationshipmouth gapeLake Biwa
Type
Research Article
Information
Annales de Limnologie - International Journal of Limnology , Volume 46 , Issue 1 , 2010 , pp. 41 - 45
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Colle, D.E. and Shireman, J.V., 1980. Coefficients of condition for largemouth bass, bluegill, and redear sunfish in hydrilla-infested lakes. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. , 109, 521–531.
Fullerton, A.H., Garvey, J.E., Wright, R.A. and Stein, R.A., 2000. Overwinter growth and survival of largemouth bass: interactions among size, food, origin, and winter severity. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. , 129, 1–12.
Guy, C.S. and Willis, D.W., 1995. Population characteristics of black crappies in South Dakota waters: a case for ecosystem-specific management. N. Am. J. Fish. Manage. , 15, 754–765.
Haga H., Ohtsuka T., Matsuda M. and Ashiya M., 2006. Spatial distributions of biomass and species composition in submerged macrophytes in the southern basin of Lake Biwa in summer of 2002. Jpn. J. Limnol., 67, 69–79 [in Japanese with English summary].
Hamabata, E. and Kobayashi, Y., 2002. Present status of submerged macrophyte growth in Lake Biwa: recent recovery following a summer decline in the water level. Lake. Reserv. Res. Manage. , 7, 331–338.
Hambright, K.D., 1991. Experimental analysis of prey selection by largemouth bass: role of predator mouth width and prey body depth. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. , 120, 500–508.
Hayes, D.B., Ferreri, C.P. and Taylor, W.W., 1996. Linking fish habitat to their population dynamics. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. , 53, 383–390.
He, X. and Lodge, D.M., 1990. Using minnow traps to estimate fish population size: the importance of spatial distribution and relative species abundance. Hydrobiologia , 190, 9–14. CrossRef
Huskey, S.H. and Turingan, R.G., 2001. Variation in prey-resource utilization and oral jaw gape between two populations of largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides. Env. Biol. Fish. , 61, 185–194.
Jackson D.A., 2002. Ecological effects of Micropterus introductions: the dark side of black bass. In: Philipp D.P. and Ridgway M.S. (eds.), Black bass: ecology, conservation, and management, American Fisheries Society Symposium, Vol. 31, American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, 221–232.
Kuwamura K., 2001. Catching and eating the fish of Lake Buwa. In: The Lale Biwa Encyclopedia Editing Committee (ed.), Do you know about this lake? 50 chapters talking about Lake Biwa, Sunrise Publishing, Shiga, 141–146 [in Japanese].
Lorenzoni, M., Dörr, A.J.M., Erra, R., Giovinazzo, G., Mearelli, M. and Selvi, S., 2002. Growth and reproduction of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides Lacépède, 1802) in Lake Trasimeno (Umbria, Italy). Fish. Res. , 56, 89–95.
Ludsin, S.A. and DeVries, D.R., 1997. First-year recruitment of largemouth bass: the interdependency of early life stages. Ecol. Appl. , 7, 1024–1038.
Mizuno T., Nakao H., LBM Fish Survey Group and Nakajima T., 2007. Risk analysis of habitat utilization by bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) in the Lake Biwa Basin. Jpn. J. Conserv. Ecol., 12, 1–9 [in Japanese with English summary].
Nakai K. and Hamabata E., 2002. Lake Biwa. In: The Ecological Society of Japan (ed.), Handbook of alien species in Japan, Chijinshokan, Tokyo, 265–268 [in Japanese].
Olson, M.H., 1996. Ontogenetic niche shifts in largemouth bass: variability and consequences for first-year growth. Ecology , 77, 179–190. CrossRef
Olson, M.H., Mittelbach, G.G. and Osenberg, C.W., 1995. Competition between predator and prey: resource-based mechanisms and implications for stage-structured dynamics. Ecology , 76, 1758–1771. CrossRef
Santos, M.N., Gaspar, M.B., Vasconcelos, P. and Monteiro, C.C., 2002. Weight-length relationships for 50 selected fish species of the Algarve coast (south Portugal). Fish. Res. , 59, 289–295.
Savino, J.F. and Stein, R.A., 1982. Predator-prey interaction between largemouth bass and bluegills as influenced by simulated, submerged vegetation. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. , 111, 255–266.
Takamura, K., 2007. Performance as a fish predator of largemouth bass [Micropterus salmoides (Lacepède)] invading Japanese freshwaters: a review. Ecol. Res. , 22, 940–946.
Yoshizawa K., 1992. Maturation of largemouth bass. In: National Federation of Inlandwater Fisheries Cooperatives (ed.), The review of exotic largemouth bass and bluegill, Fisheries Agency, Tokyo, 55–62 [in Japanese].
Webb, P.W., 1986. Effect of body form and response threshold on the vulnerability of four species of teleost prey attacked by largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides). Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. , 43, 763–771.
Wiley, M.J., Gorden, R.W., Waite, S.W. and Powless, T., 1984. The relationship between aquatic macrophytes and sport fish production in Illinois ponds: a simple model. N. Am. J. Fish. Manage. , 4, 111–119.