A Comparative Performance Study of Two Native Strains of Largemouth Bass in South Carolina Farm Ponds

JEAN LEITNER AND JAMES BULAK, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, 1921 Vanboklen Road, Eastover, South Carolina 29044, USA

A statewide reciprocal transplant study was initiated to compare the performance of two strains of largemouth bass. Allozyme surveys have shown South Carolina coastal largemouth bass populations possess 98% Florida alleles, while Piedmont populations possess as few as 36% Florida alleles. Thirty seven new or renovated farm ponds were stocked in 1994 and 1995 with fingerlings produced from either the coastal or Piedmont strain of largemouth bass. Our objective was to characterize performance differences between the two strains by evaluating growth of original stocks at one and three years, and the change in allelic frequencies over subsequent year classes. Selected water quality parameters were monitored to define productivity differences among ponds. First year growth was analyzed using multiple regression. The model, using region and strain stocked as main effects, and pond as a nested effect, was a significant predictor of growth rate (p=.01; R²=0.62). However, adjusting computed F-statistics to account for the random effect of the variable pond indicated that only region and pond were significant predictors of growth. Water quality parameters did not explain a significant portion of among pond variation. Further analysis of age-1 growth data, and genetic analysis of subsequent year classes are on going. Year three growth data will be collected beginning June 1997.