Odd looking Smallmouth

[siwash]

maybe it mated with a leopard

[Greencoachdog]

Reverse Albino Smallie

 

 

Reverse Albinism is mannism, hence my first post to this thread:

 

Strange looking indeed!

 

It looks like a form of melanism to me.

 

Melanism

[Cudz]

someone abviously droped a barel of old oil in the middle of the lake.

 

and that bass made it its habitat....

 

 

OBVIOUSLY!

Yep. You might laugh but you are not far from the truth.

It is a transplanted fish from Prince William Sound.

They had to be transported to Ontario, northern Michigan and Northern NY State, after the oil spill. These bass are more commonly known as the Valdez Bass.

Somehow, the engineers in charge of cleaning up the spill inadvertantly pumped crude oil into a few neaby creeks which fed into a well know scientist's (who was alos a bass enthusiasts) pond. At the time Prof. David Allen, a professor at the University of Michigan (Institute for Fisheries Research), was trying to see how far north smallmouth bass could breed successfully and he had brought smallmouth from Lake Erie and Lake Michigan to Prince William Sound in Alaska. Apparently the crude oil eventually settled to bottom of his ponds and it settled on many of the rocks. Although some of the oil was cleared from the ponds, lots still settled on the bottom. Professer Allan continued to study his bass and although many died he also found that some were begining to take on similar pigment and colours to the surrounding rocks. He stated that it only took 2 generations to become almost completely mottled. At the end of his study in Alaska, Allan was instructed to remove all the non-native fish species from the 3 ponds. He did so, and actually transported the surviving bass back to Lake Erie and Michigan returning each strand to their original habitat. Since this time the mottled bass have reproduced and again their offspring no longer have such pronounced black markings but occasionally people still catch them in Lake Erie and Lake Michigan with a black dot or two (I have never seen this live or caught one with it). Reports have also surfaced that some smallmouth bass with black markings have been caught in other lakes that are near the two great lakes. These recent findings have spawned a whole new study at the Institute for Fisheries Research regarding the smallmouth bass' migratory and movement patterns.

[Kenny G]

Tattoos

[aniceguy]

Ralph Manns wrote about it a while back this should answer it for ya

 

 

 

The Bass Blotch Mystery

 

 

 

 

 

In 1989, Douglas Carlson of the New York Department of Environmental

Conservation reported* that largemouth bass with unusual dark blotches were

present in the Hudson River Estuary. The markings were a result of an increased

number of pigment cells in the skin and occurred on various body surfaces. Bass

collected by biologists using electro-shocking equipment were more likely to

have these blotches (23 percent) than those caught by bass anglers (11 percent),

that there was no noticeable change in the frequency of these sightings between

1985 and 1988, and that biologists in other states contacted in 1986 had also

seen similarly marked bass. At that time, most of the sightings were in eastern

coastal areas and a few impoundments in the central and southern states.

 

 

 

In 1994, Kathleen Skinner and other biologists at Russell Sage College* *

reported several investigations into these markings. They noted that in 1985,

New York biologist John Schachte found about 33 percent of Hudson River bass

over 12-inches long had blotches, but that 50 percent of bass over 14 inches had

them. Other studies made in that year found parasites were probably not the

cause and that the bass did not show any other specific cellular pathology.

Previous studies of unusual markings on other fish species related abnormal

blotches to environmental contaminants, viruses, heredity, the inflammatory

responses of the skin’s immune system, or changes in hormones that regulated

skin pigment responses. The team noted that another study ruled out a viral

cause. Unmarked bass failed to become blotched when inoculated with sera from

affected bass, there were no associated skin lesions, and other fish species

were not affected.

 

 

 

Skinner’s team checked to see if the Hudson River pollutant, PCB, was a

cause. They found PCBs were high in Hudson River bass, concentrations were

different in male and female fish, and blotched bass contained more PCBs than

unblotched bass from the same areas. But, they noted the blotches occurred in

samples from areas without high PCB concentrations and in bass with the same

concentrations as the unmarked control bass. They concluded that PCBs "may not

be the cause of LMB black blotch syndrome."

 

 

 

Other, as yet unstudied, chemicals might be the cause. Increased pigmentation

in animal tissue is a natural defense mechanism against heavy metals, aromatic

hydrocarbons, acids, and other environmental contaminants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clearly, more study is needed to explain what is going on. Before Carson’s

report was published, I’d seen a few bass with the dark blotching. Since then,

the number of blotched fish has seemed to steadily increase and sightings are

now common on most Texas waters I fish. I suspect there is a tie-in with the

increase in catch-and-release bass fishing since the early 1980s. Carson’s

observation that electrofishing produced more blotched bass than angling could

be a result of learned, short-term, lure-avoidance responses by recently

handled, and thus blotched, bass. The increased percentage of blotched bass in

larger sizes could also be associated with catch-and-release, particularly the

forced releases in waters with slot limits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I moved near a lightly-fished pond 10 years ago. At first, the fish I caught

had no blotches. Since then, I’ve caught and released about 700 bass a year in

this pond, many more than once. I’ve noticed that about a third now show

blotching, often around the mouth. I’ve identified re-caught individuals by

their marks. I’ve also caught fish with distinct and identifiable blotches at

Lake Fork.

 

 

 

Lakes with slot and special limits like Fork that force the release of many

large bass seem to hold more blotched fish. Although contaminants may be

associated with the blotches, I suspect that handling during catch and release

and the hooking and capture process itself are at least related factors. Marks

near mouths are easily attributed to lipping techniques. Those on other parts of

the body are less frequent on my pond bass than on bass at Fork, but seem to be

located at places where bass may have touched a boat, the ground, or have banged

into cover while hooked. The lower tail and anal fins seem to be particularly

vulnerable. One slot-fish at Lake Fork appeared to have the imprint of a hand

across its back.

 

 

 

The marks seem to eventually disappear, suggesting they may be part of a skin

or slime repairing process. I was fish the pond less in December and early

January. The fish I catch in late January seldom have blotches, but the number

of blotches increases over the remainder of a year. I’ve also noted that they

seem to disappear faster from smaller adult bass. The largest fish seem to hold

them for at least two years.

 

 

 

We need a scientific investigation into the possibility that these blotches

are associated with capture and release. They don’t seem to harm bass in any

way, and might even prove useful in the identification of individual fish or

analysis of capture and release rates if anglers are a cause.

 

I have a staggering amount of in depth technical data on blotching and bass but the one above always seemed to make the most sense having caught them and taking a better look for fin rot slime loss, or other outward signs of illness, there has been pathology on it and it usually comes back negative

Edited May 29, 2009 by aniceguy

[Musky or Specks]

Thanks for that I live for scientific data.

[aniceguy]

there are a few thesis's out there that deal with this pigmentation issue, I can dig them up on another computer typical boring read once you get past the abstract

 

dont know if its a good tool for mark recapture and population estimates though as I think these bass are pretty plastic and will change pigmentation sooner or later

Edited May 29, 2009 by aniceguy

[Lungelarry]

Catch quite a few of them from the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River...

[Zubris21]

I have a hard time believing these spots are a result of handling and thus catch and release. Very well could be, it just seems unlikely to me. After reading the post about the bass transplanted in Alaska evolving better camouflage after the oil spill, I began to wonder if perhaps the fish we are catching are responding to the Zebra mussel outbreak. It seems logical to me that a bottom covered in zebra mussels would be much darker in colour, and therefore bass would hide more easily with darker colours. Just a theory, but the time line doesn't seem too far off.