Florida’s Shoal Bass & Suwannee Bass – Just Where Did These “Smallmouth” Come From?

[PawPaw]

Here's the newest article by our own "Ocklawahaman" on the Shoal Bass & the Suwannee Bass.

http://www.riverbassin.com/site/flor...%9D-come-from/

[lilpdriverrat]

Interesting read indeed!

[Snookman]

Does this article leave one to assume that "government bass" may be the result of hybridization between a smallmouth and a rock bass? This would be interesting being that they are from a completely different genus...especially since they produce viable offspring and the genetics remain stable, unlike most hybrids. For example...the so-called northern LMB x FL LMB hybrid is an unstable hybrid. By the 3rd generation of these fish all of the FL LMB genetics are all but gone leaving you with nothing but a northern LMB...this is true even with no other strain of bass other than the F1 hybrid, or as some people call them, the Tiger bass.

[Ocklawahaman]

Two excerpts from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission website:

http://www.myfwc.com/WILDLIFEHABITAT...emouthBass.htm

"...Subspecies - Two are recognized: the northern largemouth (M. s.salmoides) and the Florida largemouth (M. s. floridanus). The two look much the same, but the Florida largemouth has 69-73 scales along the lateral line compared to the northern largemouth's 59-65 scales. Florida bass grow to trophy size more readily than northern largemouth in warm waters.
"...Range - Originally, the Florida largemouth was found only in peninsular Florida, but they have been stocked in several other states including Texas and California. Pure northern largemouth bass are not found in Florida. Genetic intergrades between the subspecies, however, occur throughout north Florida..."

http://myfwc.com/BassPlan_survey/BBM...t-30August.pdf

"...A world-renowned reputation for trophy-sized bass is based on the genetically unique Florida largemouth bass that is native only to peninsular Florida. Further north and west through the panhandle, “intergrade” largemouth bass populations exist that have genes from both Florida largemouth bass and northern largemouth bass (M. s. salmoides) subspecies..."

My own mounted 25.5-inch long largemouth bass, which was caught from a natural lake in the Ochlockonee River Basin (just west of Tallahassee, Florida), was an “intergrade” with a lateral line scale count of 68.

[Ocklawahaman]

Some excerpts from online sites describing the counting of lateral line scales (of fish):

http://www.audubonguides.com/categor...h_biology.html
“…How to Count Fish Scales…When identifying a fish, it is often helpful to determine the number and kind of scales, including those in the lateral line. To find the lateral line, look for a dark line or ridge running along the length of the fish from the shoulder just above the operculum to the caudal fin…”

http://svrsh2.kahaku.go.jp/fishis/method.html
“…Counting scales:
Lateral-line scales are counted along the lateral line (distinguished by pores on scales) starting from the scale just behind the upper end of the gill opening to the base of caudal fin, which is determined by bending the caudal fin from side to side…”

http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/aq...scalecount.htm
“…Definition: lateral line scale count are the number of scales from the first pored scale behind the gill opening to the base of the caudal fin; in species without a developed lateral line, the number of scales along the same approximate course…”

[Seminole Steve]

Based on the most recent attempts to fully document the phylogenetics of the genus Micropterus (Kassler et al. 2002 pp291-322 in Black bass ecology, conservation and management), black bass species fall into 4 groups. One group consists of smallmouth bass and northern spotted bass. Another group consists of both subspecies of the largemouth bass, Suwannee bass, and Guadalupe bass. A third group is the Alabama spotted bass and the redeye bass. The last group consists of 1 member: shoal bass. What this means is that neither shoal bass nor Suwannee bass could have been created by stocking of "government bass" that were presumed to be smallmouth, because the smallmouth is not remotely related to them. Also, smallmouth and rock bass would pretty much never hybridize: they are completely different species. It would like a largemouth hybridizing with a bluegill: can't happen.

Bottom line is, there is no genetic evidence to suggest that Suwannee or shoal bass are not fully separate species, and in fact, shoal bass are one of the most distinct forms of black bass out there.

[Ocklawahaman]

JUST THE FACTS!

It is a FACT that some of Florida’s Panhandle streams were stocked in the early 1900’s with "government bass" by our then named "Florida Department of Game and Fresh Water Fish". These "government bass", obtained from Federal fish hatcheries, consisted of some variety of smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui) plus rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris a.k.a. Ambloplites constellatus).

It is a FACT that these Florida Panhandle rivers, from the Suwannee north and west (which receive much of their source water from Alabama and Georgia), would have been already populated prior to the 1930’s by these native fish species: intergrade largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides salmoides x Micropterus salmoides floridanus) and warmouth (Lepomis gulosus a.k.a. Chaenobryttus gulosus)--along with possibly shadow bass (Ambloplites ariommus) plus some form of northern spotted bass (Micropterus punctulatus punctulatus) or Alabama spotted bass (Micropterus punctulatus henshalli).

It is a FACT that some of these same streams contain shoal bass (Micropterus cataractae--first identified as a separate species in 1999) or Suwannee bass (Micropterus notius--first recognized as a separate species in 1949). In the case of the shoal bass, at least as far back as the 1950’s, it was thought to be a form of the redeye bass (Micropterus coosae--first named in 1940 as a separate species).

It is a FACT that the Suwannee/Santa Fe River Basin has escaped all "fish-migration-stopping" dam building lest the 1960 “Suwannee Sill” across its Okefenokee Swamp extreme Georgia headwater.

It is a FACT that the Apalachicola/Chipola River Basin, which connects to the Chattahoochee/Flint River Basin of Alabama and Georgia, had no "fish-migration-stopping" dam building in Florida until 1957.

It is a FACT that various black bass Micropterus species occasionally hybridize with other black bass Micropterus species or even other sunfish Centrarchidae family species. Searching online will reveal MANY reports about this "fishy" interbreeding.

Here are several more excerpts from sites reporting about hybridization involving various black bass species:

http://www.cnr.vt.edu/efish/families/smallmouth.html
“…Naturally hybridizes with spotted bass…Crossed with largemouth bass, forms ‘meanmouth’…Smallmouth and bluegill naturally hybridized in a Hawaiian reservoir…”

http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/b3310e/B3310E10.htm
“…The warmouth, Chaenobryttus gulosus, and the largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, have been successfully hybridized both ways…”

http://www.jstor.org/pss/1445895
“Natural Hybridization between Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus)”

http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactS...?speciesID=396
A third hybrid resulting from stocking smallmouth bass is the smallmouth/largemouth hybrid. Introduced smallmouth bass hybridize with native largemouth bass in Squaw Reservoir in northcentral Texas (Whitmore and Hellier 1988)…”

http://www.bio.txstate.edu/~tbonner/...20dolomieu.htm
“…M. dolomieu X M. treculii (Guadalupe bass) hybrids reported (Edwards 1979; Whitmore and Butler 1982). Littrell et al. (2007) reported collection of M. dolomieu X M. salmoides, M. dolomieu X M. treculii, and M.dolomieu X M. treculii X M. salmoides hybrids from Texas waters; natural hybridization between M. dolomieu and M. salmoides also reported by Whitmore and Hellier (1988). Morizot et al. (1991) reported a three species hybrid which was a combination of M. dolomieu, M. salmoides (largemouth bass), and M. trecilii(Guadalupe bass) parents (most likely M. dolomieu mating with a M. salmoides X M. treculii Fı hybrid).

http://southeastaquatics.net/uploads...iative.doc.pdf
“A Business Plan for the Conservation of Native Black Bass Species in the Southeastern US: A Ten Year Plan…February 2010”
“…Black bass commonly hybridize with each other when one or more of the species is introduced (Whitmore 1983; Koppelman 1994; Pierce and Van Den Avyle 1997; Pipas and Bulow1998; Barwick et al. 2006), and therefore the likelihood of genetic introgression of introduced black bass species and native shoal bass appears to be high…”
“…Genetic threats to shoal bass are present throughout their native range, as anglers continue to stock non-native species of black bass all over the southeastern U.S. However, specific areas that are of special concern are:
- Chattahoochee River, Atlanta, Georgia area (smallmouth and Alabama bass)
- Chattahoochee River from West Point Dam downstream to headwaters of Eufaula
Reservoir (spotted bass)
- Major tributaries to the Chattahoochee River from West Point Dam downstream to
headwaters of Eufaula Reservoir (Alabama bass and spotted bass)
- Chipola River, Florida (Alabama bass and spotted bass)
- Flint River, Georgia (spotted bass)…”
“…Introgressive hybridization with other species is a significant problem for endemic shoal bass populations…”

http://afsjournals.org/doi/abs/10.15...urnalCode=fitr
“…Hybridization between Redeye Bass and Smallmouth Bass in Tennessee Streams…These hybridizing populations illustrate the consequences of introducing nonindigenous redeye bass into streams containing indigenous smallmouth bass…”

http://www.jstor.org/pss/1444331
“…The introduction of smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui) into the range of the endemic Guadalupe bass (M. treculi) on the Edwards Plateau in south-central Texas has resulted in hybridization between these species…”

http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/facts...?SpeciesID=397
“…This species was formerly composed of three subspecies: the northern spotted bass - M. p. punctulatus, the Alabama spotted bass - M. p. henshalli and the Wichita spotted bass - M. p. wichitae. Cofer (1995) determined the Wichita subspecies was actually a hybrid with M. dolomieu and is therefore invalid…”

http://www.in-fisherman.com/content/spotted-bass
“…A third putative subspecies, the Wichita spotted bass, is now considered a hybrid between the spotted and the smallmouth bass…”

ONLINE SEARCHES WILL REVEAL MANY MORE REPORTS!

[sumtershoaliefan]

So, are you saying that Suwanee bass are a result of some bizarre hybridization from some unknown stocked "govt bass" and rock bass and have now formed their own specied of bass? Just curious what your trying to say? BTW, just because a fish species has only been recently described by science doesn't mean that specied didn't exist before then. Suwanee bass and shoal bass have existed in Northern Florida long before people inhabited this continent.

SSF

[GA Biologist]

I'm with SSF, exactly what are you trying to say with this? The old article is kind of interesting in that fisheries biologists used to stock fish all over the nation for no real reason. My guess is that if any smallmouth (if they were indeed smallmouth) would have thrived from these stockings then there would be populations of smallmouth around. The fish in the picture could very well be a fast growing largemouth. Under perfect conditions largemouth can grow extremely fast and look like they have small mouths for their body size. People around here today still talk of catching smallmouth (Suwannee and shoal bass) in the Ochlockonee and ACF drainages.

[the-bass-catcher]

Oclawahaman, that was an interesting read and one can definitely tell you've put a lot of time into your research. I've done a lot of research on redeye bass and shoal bass, and consider myself fairly well-read on black bass genetics. It took me a while to figure out exactly what you were trying to suggest with those readings, but I see that you may be suggesting that shoal and Suwannee bass may be be some weird hybrid-turned-new-species since those smallmouth "govt bass" introductions. All genetic analysis I've looked at suggests something similar to what Seminole Steve described.

If you read up on the Wichita spotted bass, it was described as a separate species based on scale counts, morphology, and appearance. However, it did not go extinct...it was a hybrid form between smallmouth and spotted bass (where one had been introduced ontop of another). However, nature took its course so to speak, and the hybrids reverted back over a few generations back to a pure strain spotted bass. Thus, scientists realized their mistake and discredited the description of that species. And to complicate matters, identification of black bass is hardly ever as easy as a lateral line scale count, as there are natural variations within populations of a species.

To suggest that stocked smallmouth may have contributed certain genes to the genetic composition of Suwannee and shoal bass is another interesting thought. To my knowledge, that has never been directly investigated but would be nearly impossible to know due to old stockings of smallmouth in Georgia as well. I'm willing to bet that the small amounts of stocking (compared to the natural levels of shoal bass and Suwannee bass, even by today's standards) coupled with the poor habitat suitability of Florida's streams to a smallmouth bass would have worked against that theory.

Thanks for the cool read and sparking some hearty conversation. People around the Florida panhandle call Suwannee bass "smallmouths" all the time, just like GA Bioligist said. And the shoal bass used to be referred to as the "Flint River Smallmouth" or a morph of redeye bass, as you mentioned. All the common and slang names for bass can get confusing, fast!

[Ocklawahaman]

Merry Christmas, Seasons Greetings and Happy New Year to all from "Ocklawahaman"!

Here is some more historical data related to my article, "Florida’s Shoal Bass & Suwannee Bass – Just Where Did These 'Smallmouth' Come From?"

Any and all "river bassers" that are interested in the substance of any of my articles should have reasonably easy access to any source documents that I quote or report about--so that they can view them also. I strive to provide clickable-links-to or scanned-copies-of source documents that I mention in my articles or forum postings!

It is a FACT that I am able to examine the following published learned report written long ago by a well-known black bass fishing expert of the time.

http://books.google.com/books?id=sO8...page&q&f=false

http://www.archive.org/stream/bookof...9hens_djvu.txt

http://www.archive.org/stream/moreab...srich_djvu.txt

The following excerpts are from the immortal treatise Book Of The Black Bass by James Alexander Henshall (1904 with the last printing that I can find is 1917):

"...But in 1874, Professor G. Brown Goode, while collecting in Florida, found this species exceedingly abundant, and the only species of the Black Bass represented in that State; consequently, in 1876, he restored the name bestowed on this species, from the same locality, by Le Sueur, in 1822 (Cichla floridana) , and in accordance with the law of priority, called it Micropterus floridanus (Le Sueur) Goode..." "Ocklawahaman" Note: This excerpt was discussing "large-mouth" bass.

"...The Black Bass is wholly unknown in the Old World, except where recently introduced, and exists, naturally, only in America. The original habitat of the species is remarkable for its extent, for, with the exception of the New England States and the Atlantic seaboard of the Middle States, it comprises the whole of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, Ontario (Canada), and East Mexico. So far, but one species, the large-mouthed Bass, is known to inhabit Florida, but it is my opinion that the small-mouthed species will also be found in some of the streams in the western part of that State..."

"...The character of waters has but little influence upon the distribution of the species, less upon the large-mouth bass than upon his small-mouth congener. If the water is reasonably pure, both species will thrive in it; but, as has just been intimated, the small-mouth bass naturally seeks cooler and clearer waters. Thus, while he is found in the headwaters of certain rivers flowing into the Atlantic (notably those of the Alleghany region of the Carolinas, Georgia, and Alabama), the large-mouth bass only occurs in the lower portions of the streams. There are several rivers in Hernando County, on the Gulf coast of Florida, that burst out from the base of a sandy ridge running parallel with the coast, and some twelve miles from it, whose sources are large springs, fifty or sixty feet deep, and of half an acre in extent. Their waters are remarkably clear and cool, with a strong current until tide-water is reached; and I have no doubt but the small-mouth bass would thrive wonderfully well in the upper portions of the streams if introduced into them, as the conditions all seem favorable, and the large-mouth bass is abundant in them..."

I'll have some more data about Florida's Shoal Bass and Suwannee Bass in the future!
ENJOY,
"Ocklawahaman" Paul Nosca

[the-bass-catcher]

Hey OcklawahaMan,

I am definitely impressed with your research. It is my opinion, though, that your several sources (above) are dated. Back in the early days, if it wasn't a "large-mouthed bass" then it was by default a "small-mouthed bass" until the other species were described.

Even if that was not the case, the fact that the shoal bass and Suwannee bass have such narrow native ranges (in what would likely have been fairly difficult areas to fish for sport back in the days of William Bartram, etc) probably limited the ability of researchers to capture and preserve specimens. Thus, accounts of "small-mouthed bass" make sense. Locals were catching shoalies and Suwannee's that didn't look anything like largemouths. And to this very day, put shoalies and smallmouths side-by-side and it would be a difficult task to discern the species without doing a suite of scale counts and genetic analysis.

But all this aside, I enjoyed the article you wrote. It was full of neat "nuggets" of old information and you certainly put a refreshing perspective on how everything ties together from our past management strategies up to current times.

[Ocklawahaman]

Here is some of my own "creel survey" data about the SHOAL BASS of the Chipola River, Florida and the SUWANNEE BASS of the Ochlockonee River, Florida from my computerized (since 1991) database...

From the Chipola River of Florida since 1991:
I have caught 1 shoal bass for every 2.5 largemouth bass that I've caught.
60% of the largemouth bass were 12 inches or longer in total length.
50% of the shoal bass were 12 inches or longer in total length.
37% of the shoal bass were 14 inches or longer in total length (longest was 18 inches).
I only kept ONE shoal bass for eating as a test--all other shoal bass have been released.
I have never caught a spotted bass from the Chipola River but I've not "bassed" the Chipola since 2000.
The only 2 black bass species that I've ever caught from the Chipola are largemouth and shoal.

From the Ochlockonee River of Florida since 1991:
I have caught 1 Suwannee bass for every 7.4 largemouth bass that I've caught.
61% of the largemouth bass were 12 inches or longer in total length.
81% of the Suwannee bass were 12 inches or longer in total length.
31% of the Suwannee bass were 14 inches or longer in total length (longest was 16 inches).
I only kept ONE Suwannee bass for eating as a test--all other Suwannee bass have been released.
The only 2 black bass species that I've ever caught from the Ochlockonee are largemouth and Suwannee.
I have not fished the Ochlockonee River since 2003.

I have caught SHOAL BASS from the Chipola River of Florida and the Chestatee River of Georgia PRIOR to 1991.
I have caught SUWANNEE BASS from the Suwannee River of Florida (also the Santa Fe and Ichetucknee rivers of the Suwannee Basin) PRIOR to 1991.
I have no computerized "creel survey" data of those pre-1991 catches!

I have NEVER caught a shoal bass from the Apalachicola River of Florida--but I have caught largemouth and spotted bass from the Apalachicola. I haven't fished the Apalachicola River since 2000.

I have NEVER caught a Suwannee bass from the St. Marks, Wakulla, Aucilla, or Wacissa rivers of Florida--I have only caught largemouth bass from those streams (but I have not fished any of those 4 rivers since 2003).

Maybe some of y'all have kept some records and can compare?

ENJOY,
"Ocklawahaman"

[Ocklawahaman]

My article, “Florida’s Shoal Bass & Suwannee Bass – Just Where Did These "Smallmouth" Come From?” included the following paragraph regarding smallmouth bass and my experience with them:
SMALLMOUTH BASS (Micropterus dolomieu) was first described as a species in 1802. “Northern smallmouth” and “Neosho smallmouth” are the two recognized subspecies. I have caught smallmouth bass from the Blue River of Oklahoma.

I strive to provide the most accurate and honest fishery data in all my writings--even if the information that I’m quoting or reporting from was originally published in the 1800’s! Therefore I feel that I need to include some additional details to that paragraph about SMALLMOUTH BASS.

It appears now that SMALLMOUTH BASS may include (and I stress the word “may”) at least 3 varieties now (I am not sure if “subspecies” or “clade” may be a better term to describe them--it’s confusing). The three are: Northern smallmouth (Micropterus dolomieu dolomieu), Neosho smallmouth (Micropterus dolomieu velox), and Ouachita smallmouth (Micropterus dolomieu ?). The State of Oklahoma seems to have all 3 of these varieties, thanks (or no thanks) to stocking.

Excerpted from http://afsjournals.org/doi/abs/10.15...S%3E2.0.CO%3B2
"...We conducted an allozyme survey of genetic variation at 33 gene loci in smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu from 57 localities encompassing most of the range of the species, but with an emphasis (51 samples) on the Interior Highlands (Ozark and Ouachita uplands). Samples exhibited a moderate amount of total genic diversity (HT = 0.068), but high genetic heterogenity (FST = 0.383). Phylogenetic analyses supported recognition of three clades from the Interior Highlands: (1) the previously recognized Neosho smallmouth bass in Ozark tributaries of the middle Arkansas River; (2) the Ouachita smallmouth bass in the Little and Ouachita river drainages of the Ouachita Highlands; and (3) a clade that included populations from the White, Black, Missouri, and other streams in the northern and eastern Ozarks. This third clade was very similar to populations from the Ohio and upper Mississippi river basins, and, on the basis of allele frequency parsimony, more closely related to them than to the Neosho and Ouachita smallmouth basses. To preserve genetic diversity and the options that divergent native stocks represent for future management, stock transfers of smallmouth bass should take into account potential effects on native forms of the species..."

As to my own experience catching smallmouth bass, I now remember that I have also caught some smallmouth bass from the Cowpasture River in Virginia. The Cowpasture is a tributary of the James River. I caught a mixed-bag from the Cowpasture River on small spinners, over a couple of days “back then”, consisting of: rainbow trout, fallfish, rock bass, and smallmouth bass.

That’s it for my SMALLMOUTH update.

On another subject, I plan to do an article soon called “OK Memories Of My Quest For The Wichita Spotted Bass” about my expeditions on West Cache Creek in Oklahoma attempting to find any extant specimens of that spotted bass subspecies.

Enjoy,
“Ocklawahaman”

[Snookman]

Witchitae variety of spotted bass was proven to be a hybrid between smallmouth and kentucky spots by DNA sampling.