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Ask A Marine Biologist - Your Answer!
Hi greg (h2o)
Here is the response to your Question:
Q.
What cause''s a largemouth bass to get a red mouth in the spring time. Or anytime. thank you i noticed this in some fish i have caught Thanks for a reply greg
A.
Hi Greg
Unfortunately this is a voluntary service run from Australia so we do not have people with expertise in North American fish.
There are many references to the Largemouth Bass on the web. THe best of these is at http://www.thecontentwell.com/Fish_Game/LG...Bass_index.html
This gives several pages of detailed information on them but does not mention that the mouth turns red in spring.
This behaviour may be linked with spawning which takes place in spring. It can detect red and the male is territorial, defending the nest from other fish. The red colouration may be a warning to other bass to keep them away from the nesting area.
This hypothesis would be better supported if only the male's mouth turned red in spring. I hope this is of some assistance but perhaps you could follow this up with some questions to sites with more information about this bass.
I was unable to find any mention of this colour change in the sites I visited.
cheers
Peter
MESA web manager
Thanks for asking a Marine Biologist!
This message was auto-generated by the MESA server
h2o<---says seems like it's a mystery because bass don't speak english, lol I'll try and find a ask a Marine Biologist in Michigan
Hi greg (h2o)
Here is the response to your Question:
Q.
What cause''s a largemouth bass to get a red mouth in the spring time. Or anytime. thank you i noticed this in some fish i have caught Thanks for a reply greg
A.
Hi Greg
Unfortunately this is a voluntary service run from Australia so we do not have people with expertise in North American fish.
There are many references to the Largemouth Bass on the web. THe best of these is at http://www.thecontentwell.com/Fish_Game/LG...Bass_index.html
This gives several pages of detailed information on them but does not mention that the mouth turns red in spring.
This behaviour may be linked with spawning which takes place in spring. It can detect red and the male is territorial, defending the nest from other fish. The red colouration may be a warning to other bass to keep them away from the nesting area.
This hypothesis would be better supported if only the male's mouth turned red in spring. I hope this is of some assistance but perhaps you could follow this up with some questions to sites with more information about this bass.
I was unable to find any mention of this colour change in the sites I visited.
cheers
Peter
MESA web manager
Thanks for asking a Marine Biologist!
This message was auto-generated by the MESA server
h2o<---says seems like it's a mystery because bass don't speak english, lol I'll try and find a ask a Marine Biologist in Michigan