162 KEPOKT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 

 GROWTH AND WEIGHT. 



There is a wide difference iu the rate of growth, and there is no way 

 by which the age of a black bass can be determined from its size. 

 Some are comparatively large from the moment they are hatched, and 

 grow much more rapidly than the smaller members of the same school. 

 The average size of adults varies in diflerent localities, and sometimes 

 will be found to vary from year to year iu any particular locality. The 

 variations depend ui)on initial vitality, upon the scarcity or abundance 

 of food, and upon the range and space given the fish. At the age of 

 5 or G months the young bass measure from 4 to 8 inches, according to 

 locality and surroundings, though a certain percentage of the crop will 

 always run large. In 1892, at Neosho station, a black bass, which was 

 positively known to be under 18 months old, weighed on the scales 1 

 pound 9^ ounces. 



Large-mouth bass have been known to weigh 23 pounds. They are 

 not infrequently taken from the San Marcos River, Texas, weighing 

 from 12 to 1;") pounds, and a 6 pound or 8-pound bass in the southern 

 tributaries of the Mississippi and in the inland lakes of Florida excites 

 no surprise. The small-mouth bass does not grow so large, 2i pounds 

 probably exceeding their average size, though they occasionally reach 

 5 or 6 pounds. The rock -bass fry grow slowly, those G months old 

 seldom averaging 2 inches in length. The adult usually weighs from 

 J to f pound, occasionally reaching 1 pound; and examples have been 

 recorded as high as 3 pounds. 



The crappie and the strawberry bass will, as a rule, not exceed 1 

 pound in weight, though in Missouri the former has been taken as 

 high as 3 pounds. Under like conditions of pond environment, at 6 

 months old the young of both these species are about the size of black- 

 bass fry of the same age, possibly a little smaller. Each school will 

 have a few individuals much larger than the majority. 



NATURAL HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION. 



The large-mouth and small-mouth black basses are widely distrib- 

 uted. The natural range of the large-mouth is from the Great Lakes 

 and the Red River of the North to Florida, Texas, and Mexico, and 

 west to the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas. The small-mouth bass 

 ranged formerly from Lake Champlaiu to Manitoba, and southward on 

 both sides of the Alleghanies to South Carolina and Arkansas. The 

 adaptability of these fish to extremes of temperature and their great 

 tenacity of life under seemingly adverse conditions has rendered their 

 distribution comparatively easy, and they have been successfully Intro 

 duced into nearly all the sections of the United States to which they 

 were not native, and into England, France, Germany, and Finland. 

 They have been planted in California, Washington, Utah, and other 

 Western States by the United States Fish Commission. In three years 

 they became so numerous in Utah that 30,000 i)ounds were caught and 

 marketed from one lake. 



