Comparing Training Success of Two Strains of Largemouth Bass

Abstract

A study was conducted to determine if fingerlings of two strains of largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, differed significantly in acceptance of formulated feed. The San Marcos (Marion) and Inks Dam (northern) strains of largemouth bass were trained at the San Marcos National Fish Hatchery and Development Center to accept formulated feed, Biodiet, under similar conditions in a simulated production environment. Fingerlings (average total length, 30 mm) that had been reared under similar conditions were stocked at equal densities, in triplicate, in indoor rectangular tanks. They received semimoist pellets, 1.6 mm in diameter, at a rate equal to 15% of the stocked biomass per day throughout the training period. Training success was 23% for the Inks Dam and 43% for the San Marcos strain. The San Marcos strain performed 84% better than the Inks Dam strain under similar conditions. These results appear to support the contention that genetic difference explains to a considerable extent the difference in training success between strains. These data, plus previous experience with both strains, suggest that significant gains in production and management may be possible if the genetic potential of different strains of largemouth bass is exploited.

A comparison of prey capture kinematics in hatchery and wild Micropterus salmoides floridanus: effects of ontogeny and experience

“…Alternatively, there is a small chance that the hatchery fish at this size class were siblings, leading to a founder's effect. Genetics have been shown to affect both aggression levels (Berejikian et al ., 1996) and feeding in fishes (Williamson, 1983). Regardless of the source of variability in prey capture behaviour employed by hatchery fish feeding on pellets, there was no difference in the number of strikes required to capture food across size, indicating a high success rate at all ages studied.…”

Feed training of peacock bass (Cichla sp.)

“…Fish that begin feed training with a larger initial size and does not feed during the first training period, still has organic reserves at the end of this first training session, and that gives them a second chance to learn to accept the inert food (Flickinger et al, 1975;Williamson, 1981;Willis & Flickinger, 1981). The best success rates on feed training black bass are attained with fingerlings with an average initial weight between 0.5 g and 0.9 g. It seems that these fish have enough energy reserves to survive until they learn to feed on the inert diet (Williamson, 1981;Kubitza, 1995b;Sloane & Lovshin, 1995;Kubitza & Lovshin, 1997a). Therefore, it is suggested that the average initial weight to submit black bass to feed conditioning should be approximately 0.9 g. Regarding peacock bass, we observed a larger percentage of fish feeding on the final dry diet (31.6%) when the average initial weight was 1.5 g, compared to those that began training with an average weight of 0.27 g (11.8%).…”

“…The efficiency of conditioning can be estimated by the Retention of Feed Behavior (RTB), expressed as the percentage of the total number of feeders harvested in relation to the total number of fish stocked (Anderson, 1974). The development of novel techniques made possible, for instance, to increase the values of RTB of black bass from 40% in the 60's to 99.5% in the 90's (Snow, 1968;Anderson, 1974;Flickinger et al, 1975;Brandenburg et al, 1979;Williamson, 1981;Sloane & Lovshin, 1995).…”

Feed training and intensive production of advanced largemouth bass fingeriings: A review

“…Williamson (1981) reported a training success of 30 to 40% with an average of 38.5%, a success rate considerably lower than that observed by Snow (1968a), Nelson et al (1974), andMcCraren (1974). Williamson (1983) compared the training success of two strains of largemouth bass: San Marcos or Marion strain, and Inks Dam or northern strain (Table 2). Fingerlings from each strain were stocked into fiberglass tanks at 6.8 to 7.0 kg/m 3 and fed 1.6 mm Biodiet®.…”