Kenneth K. Sellers

Scale pattern analysis was used to differentiate between stocked and wild age-0 largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) in New Mart Lake, Texas. Scale samples were collected from wild (intergrade) and stocked (Florida) largemouth bass during spring 1995. Stocked fish were tagged with coded wire tags to ensure proper identification. During fall 1995, 88 age-0 wild and stocked largemouth bass were collected by electrofishing. Using linear discriminant function analysis, correct classification for the 71 wild fish was 97%, while correct classification for the 17 stocked fish ranged from 53%...

During a 2-year period, 250,000 Florida largemouth bass fingerlings were stocked among the endemic northern largemouth bass population of Tradinghouse Creek Reservoir (1985 = 185/ha, 1986 = 123/ha). We used electrophoresis to estimate proportions of Florida, northern, and Florida x northern intergrade largemouth bass within pre-stocking, stocking-year, and post-stocking year cohorts. Ages of largemouth bass were determined by examination of whole otoliths. The proportion of Florida phenotypes within the stocking-year cohort was not increased when the stocking rate was more than 50/ha...