But I’ll be one of the first to tell you that you don’t have to go deep to see amazing nature!
This was a fun photo of a largemouth bass that I was able to take while exploring a freshwater quarry with my sister in Indiana. The quarry is at France Park just outside Logansport, Indiana. I have done dozens of dives here through the years, as it is one of the closest dive sites to Indianapolis. The water there is hardly ever clear, and on this day our visibility was about four feet. At that distance there’s not much to see, but it’s a great opportunity to hang out with some of the more curious freshwater fish.
On one of the dives that we did that day, I went to the bottom and was immediately greeted by two curious largemouth bass. They stayed with me for the next ten minutes of the dive while we ventured along the edge of the quarry. This was far from my deepest dive that I have ever done. I only ever got as deep as 21 feet, and I spent most of the time around 10-12 feet. But I’ll be one of the first to tell you that you don’t have to go deep to see amazing nature!
The largemouth bass goes by many names. Its scientific name is Micropterus nigricans. Its common names include: Florida largemouth, green bass, black bass, bucketmouth, largie, Potter’s fish, bigmouth bass, widemouth bass, southern largemouth, LMB, Oswego bass, Gilsdorf bass, green trout, and northern largemouth (that’s a lot of names!). This fish is a prized catch of fishermen. The largest ever recorded was 29.5 inches long with a weight of 25 pounds and 1 ounce.
The largemouth bass has a distinctive set of characteristics. First off, it is an olive-green to greenish gray body with a series of dark blotches that form a stripe down either side of its body. In these photos, it is the black line you can see on its side. Its lower jaw extends beyond its upper jaw which gives it a grumpy-looking demeanor.
One of the surprising facts about largemouth bass is that they can eat prey that are as large as 50% as the bass’s body length. As juveniles, they will eat mostly small bait fish, scuds, water fleas, copepods, small shrimp, and insects. As adults, they consume smaller fish like bluegill, banded killifish, minnows, and juvenile bass, and they will also eat shad worms, snails, crawfish, frogs, snakes, and salamanders. When they live in larger lakes, the adults will spend their time in deeper waters. In these situations, they shift to a diet made entirely of fish: shad, yellow perch, ciscoes, suckers, shiners, freshwater silversides, and sunfish.
To reproduce, mushrooms release spores
Did you know?
- The largemouth bass is targeted by bald eagles.
- It is seen as an invasive species in some locations as it is known to displace native species when it is introduced.
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