Smart Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu): North America's Prim, Pristine, Privileged Freshwater Fish

Having a small mouth can or cannot be a complimentary designation and a desirable trait. For example, in human terms, a small mouth can take the shape of what is called the rosebud mouth. The rosebud mouth describes a mouth which has full lower and upper lips as well as flared and rounded corners. It has the compact and concentrated yet dainty and delicate look reminiscent of the luscious, petite, seductive buds of the startling, striking, stunning pink or red rose. It therefore is a desired attribute which inspires endless compliments.

At the same time and also in human terms, the small mouth can be associated with a charitable character. The smaller opening does not allow for taking more than one’s share. Unwillingly or willingly, it therefore does permit its bearer to take just enough so that there is enough to go around for everyone’s needs.

In terms of fish, a little mouth is less an indication of beauty and an indicator of generosity than it is of feeding proclivities. The bigger-mouthed fishes often include among their regular fare fellow fishes. The smaller-mouthed fishes usually prey upon aquatic and terrestrial necessary irritants, such as insects, as well as upon bottom-dwelling or –hovering clams, crayfish, mussels, and snails. They thereby take part in controlling the spread of disease by insects and invertebrates as well as of invasive pests such as non-native mussels.

Such is the case with the smart smallmouth bass.

What the smallmouth bass’ common name is: Smallmouth bass is the common name by which people in their daily lives reference the smallmouth bass. But this phrase may not be the only designation for the black bass whose fins and mouth are noticeably small. A list of alternative common names will include some of the following:

• Bare back bass;

• Bronze bass, bronzeback;

• Brown bass, brownie;

• Gold bass;

• Green bass;

• Jumper;

• Northern smallmouth bass;

• Smallie, smallmouth, smallmouth black bass, small-mouthed black bass;

• Streaked-cheek river bass;

• Swago bass;

• Trout bass;

• White trout.

What the smallmouth bass’ scientific name is: Bernard-Germain-Étienne de La Ville-sur-Illon, comte de Lacépède (December 26, 1756-October 6, 1825) is the gentleman who gave the smallmouth bass its scientific name. The French naturalist was born in Agen in the Guienne region of southwestern France. He particularly was encouraged in his interest in natural history by his father. He also was motivated to excel at music composition and performance in terms of both the organ and the piano. He even wrote operas and two treatises, on electricity in 1781 and on physics in 1782-1784 (Essai sur l’électricité and Physique générale et particulaire).

The French naturalist’s writings brought him to the attention of Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (September 7, 1707-April 16, 1788), France’s influential cosmologist, mathematician, naturalist and writer. The attention garnered him two successively prestigious appointments, to the Jardin du Roi (“Garden of the King”) in 1785 and to the successor Jardin des Plantes (“Garden of the Plants”).

The French count also pursued a political career. He was elected to the Assemblée nationale legislative (“Legislative Assembly”) in 1791 to 1792 and to the Sénat (“Senate”) in 1799. During his involvement with French politics, his interests in natural history were not abandoned. For example, he wrote the five-volume Histoire naturelle des poissons (“Natural history of the fishes”) between 1798 and 1803.

Bernard indeed became known as a leading ichthyologist (Greek: ἰχθύς, ikhthus, “fish” + -λογία, -logia, “study of”). His research and his writing served him well in terms of his contributions to the classification of such animal specimens as that of the smallmouth bass in 1802. He wrote the first official description and settled upon the first scientific designation based upon a specimen whose geographical provenance has not survived the passage of time.

The scientific name of the smallmouth bass is Micropterus (Greek: μικρός, mikros, “small” + πτερον, pteron, “feather,” “fin, ” “wing”) + dolomieu. The choice of dolomieu memorializes Dieudonné Sylvain Guy Tancrède de Dolomieu (June 23, 1750-November 28, 1801), French geologist and mineralogist as well as respected acquaintance of Monsieur le Comte de Lacépède.

Where the smallmouth bass lives: The smallmouth bass can be considered native to the following areas of North America:

• Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River basins;

• Upper Mississippi basin southward to the Ohio River basin and into Georgia and Alabama as well as westward into the Red River drainage of eastern Oklahoma.

But in fact, the fish can be found throughout southern Canada and the United States. For example, it is both a native and an introduced freshwater fish in Virginia. In the Commonwealth, it is native to the Big Sandy and Tennessee drainages.

Additionally, the smallmouth bass may be present as an introduction in the New River and Atlantic slopes. In fact, the first introduction of the smallmouth bass took place in Virginia by way of Maryland in 1854. William Shriver was recorded as effecting the transfer of about 20 adult smallmouth basses from Wheeling, West Virginia into the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal at Cumberland.

Within its native and introduced ranges, the smallmouth bass can handle the following conditions in its watery habitats:

• Clear, cool or warm, moving or stiller waters of reservoirs, rivers and streams;

• Flowing pools, riffles and runs in rivers;

• Gravel, rocky or sandy bottoms;

• Rocky shallows of lakes;

• Submerged objects, such as rocks and tree stumps;

• Temperatures ranging between 50 to 86 °F (10 and 30 °C).

The smallmouth bass is intolerant of pollution.

What the smallmouth bass looks like: The smallmouth bass can be identified by the following physical characteristics:

Head:

• Cheek bars dark green or dark olive;

• Earflap over gill covers brown or black;

• Eyes with bright or dull red iris;

• Lower jaw slightly protruding;

• Mouth large;

• Tongue often with small tooth patch;

Body:

• Back medium to dark olive or bronze;

• Belly slightly dusky or speckled;

• Lateral line running from the gill covers to the base of the tail and serving as a sensory organ for the detection of movement, pressure changes, and vibrations;

• Mature body length of to 3.15 to 8.66 inches (8 to 22 centimeters), with a known maximum of 27.16 inches (69.0 centimeters);

• Mature body weight of 2 to 6 pounds (0.91 to 2.72 kilograms), with a known maximum of 11 pounds 15 ounces (5.42 kilograms);

• Oval-shaped in lakes, torpedo-shaped in rivers;

• Sides plain or variegated with narrow olive to dark brown vertical bands;

• Stocky;

• Vertebrae, 31 to 32;

Fins, rays, spines:

• Anal fin pale olive or mottled olive brown, with 9 to 12 rays and 2 to 3 spines;

• Caudal (Latin: caudālis, “of or relating to the tail of an animal”) fin moderately forked and either pale olive or mottled olive brown;

• Dorsal (Latin: dorsālis, “of or relating to the back”) fin notched, pale olive or mottled olive brown, with 12 to 15 soft rays and 9 to 11 spines;

• Pectoral (Latin: pectorālis, “of or relating to the breast”) fin pale and rounded, with 15 to 18 rays;

• Pelvic fin dusky with pale leading edge.

What the smallmouth bass eats: The young smallmouth bass eats immature aquatic insects as well as plankton (Greek: πλαγκτός, planktos, “errant” and therefore “drifter”).

The adult smallmouth bass is a carnivore (Latin: caro, “meat” + -vore, “eater”). It includes within its diet a diversity of food sources. Lists of potential smallmouth bass prey may identify any of the following:

• Crustaceans such as crayfish;
• Insects;
• Lobsters;
• Prawns or shrimps;
• Turtle hatchlings, such as spiny softshell turtles (Apalone spinfera);
• Smaller fishes.

What the smallmouth bass is eaten by: Fish, people and water birds such as the Great blue heron (Ardea herodias) are the main predators of the smallmouth bass. Predatory fish include the following:

• Bowfin (Amia calva), in terms of the juvenile and the adult smallmouth bass;

• Rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris), in terms of the eggs;

• Yellow perch (Perca flavescens), in terms of the young and the juvenile smallmouth bass.

The smallmouth bass also is known, in or out of a pinch, to eat smaller and younger versions of its own kind. It therefore may consider the eggs and young of other smallmouth bass to be fair game. Or it may decide to cannibalize its own embryos and newly hatched fry.

Additionally, it can be said that wavy-rayed lampmussel larvae (Lampsilis fasciola) prey benignly on the smallmouth bass. The smallmouth bass indeed is the cooperative, popular host to the wavy-rayed lampmussel (Lampsilis fasciola), whose larvae are packeted between colorful flaps which attract the smallmouth's attention. By nipping at the colorful display, the bass releases the larvae, which then attach themselves to the bass. The larvae will live for a while on the bass before eventually dropping to the river bottom where they grow into adulthood.

This established relationship in which smallmouth bass shelter wavy-rayed lampmussel larvae exemplifies symbiosis (Greek: σύν, syn, "with" + βίωσις, biosis, "living"). The relationship is close and prolonged. In symbiosis, mutual benefit is not a requirement for both symbionts, or participants.

When the smallmouth bass spawns: The spawning season awaits a water temperature range of 60.8 to 71.6 °F (16 to 22 °C). The smallmouth bass therefore breeds between March and May depending upon the locale. In Virginia, spawning takes place in the first part of May.

The male builds a nest for which the female can produce as many as 21,100 sticky eggs. He usually constructs it, at depths of 11.81 to 23.62 inches (30 to 60 centimeters), within 450 feet (137.16 meters) of prior locations in previous spawning seasons. He remains to guard the eggs while the female moves off to other spawning encounters.

The semi-transparent, water-hardened eggs appear gray, grayish white or light amber because of the yolk. They can measure about 3/32 inch (1.8 to 2.8 millimeters) in diameter.

The smallmouth bass eggs hatch in 2-1/2 to 4 or 6 days. The fry measure just under ¼ inch (5 millimeters) when they hatch. They will leave the nest when their attached yolk sac is absorbed. They generally remain with their male parent for about 8 to 11 days.

The smallmouth bass becomes sexually mature in 1 to 2 years in the south. In contrast, the female matures at age 3 or 4 in the north. There, the male will mature sometime between ages 2 and 4.

The smallmouth bass may live 10 to 15 more years. In rare cases, it may survive up to the age of 26 years.

What the smallmouth bass is used for: Educational entertainment, environmental research, fishing and food are the most visible uses of the smallmouth bass.

In terms of educational entertainment, the smallmouth bass is an endearing addition to private and public aquaria. Its agile actions and winsome ways make it a fascinating fish for family members to raise and for environmental educational centers to include. In short, it will be low in maintenance but high in distraction.

In terms of environmental education, the smallmouth bass interests researchers. It prefers clean waters whose shallow bottoms can be seen and whose shorelines are lined with healthy vegetation. It warns of watery habitats out of whack when it does not flourish and of water worlds in sync when it thrives. Biologists Fred C. Rohde, David G. Lindquist and James F. Parnell as well as ichthyologist Rudolf G. Arndt aptly write:

“The habitat where it occurs is usually pristine, and, in fact, the presence of a large population of smallmouth bass is usually an indicator of a healthy stream.” (p. 172)

In terms of fishing, the following guidelines may be helpful in pursuit of the smart smallmouth bass:

Times:

• Deeper waters up to 15 to 40 feet (4.57 to 12.19 meters) deep during rainy weather;

• Shallow, rocky waters near shorelines during still weather;

• Vegetated waters during hot, sunny, windless weather;

• Waters opposite from where the waves hit the rocks during sunny, windy weather;

Places:

• Deeper waters about 45 feet (13.72 meters) from shorelines;

• Pools during winter;

• Shallow waters during spawning season;

Methods:

• Artificial baits and lures, such as crank and spinner baits, jigs;

• Bait casting;

• Fly fishing;

• Lighter lines and shorter rods in shallow streams;

• Live bait, such as crayfish, flies and leeches;

• Spinning.

What the smallmouth bass’ future is: Angling and fishing lore can be preserved through ever widening circles of place and time through the telling and re-telling of gamey and sporty adventures in wild and not-so-wild watery habitats. The stories can be seen as angler and fisher commitments to our world as we know it: bountiful in its resources, but vulnerable in its renewal. The commitment is reaffirmed and strengthened with each recounting of fishy adventures and with every sharing of fresh fish.

Such describes the angler and fisher interaction with the smart smallmouth bass, prim and privileged member of pristine watery habitats. Specific to it in its telling and re-telling as a fish native to some North American parts and introduced into others, the smallmouth bass additionally is accompanied by its own angler’s and fisher’s advisory precaution. The research and the stories which the fish inspires indeed lie within the 160 year span whereby influences are at their liveliest and memories are at their sharpest on the course of 4 human generations. Both formal scientific research and informally recorded history indeed offer witness to what it is like for the smallmouth bass to be absent from or present in our wonderfully watery world.

As any angler or fisher indeed will attest, the absence of the smallmouth bass from what can, should be or was a typically prim, pristine, privileged smallmouth bass habitat is not and never will be a pretty sight.

Oven-baked smallmouth bass recipe: Sprinkle garlic, chives, cilantro, 3 slices fresh lime, olive oil, and lemon juice over fish.

Bake at 400 degrees F. for 30 minutes in roasting pan with lid. The fish was on a rack with water up to just below rack.

Menu suggestion: Sliced and peppered cooked potato, fresh stalks of rhubarb, cooked dried cherries, fresh herbs (garden sorrel, catnip, chives near blooming) dandelions. An after dinner glass of homemade elderberry wine for a finishing touch.

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the Internet; as well as to Stessily for original artwork included below.

My special thanks to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and U.S. Department of Agriculture for the professionalism which is evinced in the high-caliber data and images which they make available in print and on the internet.

My special thanks also to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Texas State University-San Marcos, and Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission for the high caliber of their online resources.

Cody, Bill. “Smallmouth Bass From Eggs to Fry: Part Three.” http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/smallmouth-fry.html (Last accessed November 26, 2011)

Gooch, Bob. Virginia Fishing Guide. Revised Edition. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1992.

Hart, David. Flyfisher’s Guide to Virginia Including West Virginia’s Best Fly Fishing Waters. Belgrade, MT: Wilderness Adventures Press, Inc., 2006.

Hassan-Williams, Carla, and Timothy H. Bonner. "Micropterus dolomieu smallmouth bass." Texas State University-San Marcos Department of Biology: Texas Freshwater Fishes. http://www.bio.txstate.edu/~tbonner/txfishes/micropterus%20dolomieu.htm (Last accessed November 26, 2011)

Jenkins, Robert E. and Noel M. Burkhead. Freshwater Fishes of Virginia. Bethesda, MD: American Fisheries Society, 1994.

Rohde, Fred C., Rudolf G. Arndt, David G. Lindquist, and James F. Parnell. Freshwater Fishes of the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. Chapel Hill and London: The University of North Carolina Press, 1994.

“Smallmouth Bass, Micropterus dolomieu.” EFISH: The Virtual Aquariuam of The Department of Fisheries & Wildlife Sciences of Virginia Tech. http://cnre.vt.edu/efish/families/smallmouth.html (Last accessed November 26, 2011)

“Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu.” Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission (PFBC) Gallery of Pennsylvania Fishes Chapter 22: Sunfishes, Family Centrarchidae. http://www.fish.state.pa.us/pafish/fishhtms/chap22.htm (Last accessed November 26, 2011)

Copyright Saturday, November 26, 2011 by Derdriu