234 NORTHERN FISHES 



provided bass may be induced to nest close to one another in the ponds. 

 In this way production may be increased. Artificial propagation by 

 stripping is possible but has never been considered practicable. Several 

 states have experimented with artificial propagation of bass, but it is 

 not practiced extensively. 



Counts of eggs in female largemouth bass show from 2000 to 26,000 

 eggs in the ovaries. A 3-pound female contained nearly 40,000 eggs. 

 Needham (1938) reported that from 2000 to 7000 eggs are produced per 

 pound of fish. Carbine (1939) in his investigations on Michigan lakes 

 reported an average of 4000 hy per nest. 



The adult largemouth bass eat a wide variety of food. Insects and 

 small fishes, mostly minnows and perch, form a large part of their diet, 

 and crayfishes and frogs also are found in their stomachs. 



GENUS Chaenobryttus Gill 



This genus contains one species, which ranges through the eastern 

 United States south of the Great Lakes. 



WARMOUTH (Warmouth Bass) 

 Chaenobryttus coronarius (Bartram) 



The warmouth (Figure 42) resembles the rock bass and maj" easily 

 be mistaken for it. It has a robust body of mottled olivaceous or gray 

 color mixed with chocolate and purplish shades and sometimes flecked 

 with gold or green. The belly is pale green or yellow speckled with dark 

 dots or with gold. The cheek and opercle are streaked and have a short 

 black opercular flap. The dorsal fin has 9 to 11 spines, usually 10, and 

 9 to 11 soft rays. The anal fin has 3 spines and 8 to 10 rays, whereas 

 the rock bass has 6 anal spines. The scales are 6-7, 39-43, 11-12. This 

 species reaches a length of 8 to 10 inches. 



The warmouth is supposed to range as far west as the Dakotas and 

 should occur in southern Minnesota, though only one record has been 

 reported and there are no specimens in the University of Minnesota 

 collections. A specimen collected in 1934 near Winona, Minnesota by 

 the Minnesota Division of Game and Fish was kept in the pond at the 

 St. Paul hatchery for several years. Greene (1935) reported it from 

 several localities on the Mississippi in Wisconsin. 



Forbes and Richardson (1908) described the warmouth as essential- 

 ly a fish of lakes, ponds, and smaller rivers, but as sometimes occurring 

 in creeks and large rivers; they describe it as preferring mud bottoms. 

 The warmouth feeds largely on insects and small fishes. Although small, 

 it is frequently caught with hook and line and utilized as a pan fish. 

 It sometimes has a rather muddy flavor. Its spawning habits are the 

 same as those of the sunfishes. 



