What Do I Call It?

[Redfish]

I caught a bass the other day which had lateral spots like a Kentucky Spot, Dorsal fin like a Kentucky Spot (continual), no tooth patch and a large mouth (lip went past the eye). I classified it as a Largemouth. Obviously, it was a hybrid between the two. If he would have registered a record weight, what would be the official species? This one weighed only 1 lb, but I could see another one of substantial weight coming out of this particular fishing hole.

What is your opinion?

[blake]

I would continue it was just a spotted bass.  Lack of tooth patch doesn't mean much.  The spots on the lower half and the dorsal fin say spot.  Larger than normal mouth cause it was a smaller/skinny fish, IMO.  

Besides the few hybrid largemouth vs spots that I have seen look more like a smallie than either of the parents.

[fishtaco]

I'd call it a LMB, though I'm not very quick to call anything a hybrid.

[RedHeron]

A LMxSpot hybrid will be extremely rare where both species co-exist naturally.  I've caught LM with spot-like coloration, but all 8 species vary wildly in their coloration, so I wouldn't go on that.  Did you get a pic?

If a fish was caught, and we couldn't determine beyond a reasonable doubt what species it was, it would probably default to the larger suspected parent species...in this case, a LM.

This is a good question though...with all the non-native stocking, we're gonna start seeing more and more smallmouthXshoalie, shoalieXAL, shoalieXspot, and smallmouthXredeye out of GA, as well as some guadXsmallmouth and maybe guadXspot out of TX.  Will we have to form a Fish ID committee?