Largemouth Bass

• The male builds the nest, fertilises the eggs and guards them aggressively for weeks, going without food for much of that time.
• It eats small fish, crayfish, frogs and aquatic insects.
• It lives in lakes, ponds, swamps and slow-flowing rivers of North America.
• ecologíaIt has been introduced to many ecosystems outside North America, where it has sometimes markedly altered native fish communities.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - bony skeleton (fish)

Habitat and environment

Lakes, ponds, swamps and slow-flowing rivers of North America; widely introduced worldwide

Birth weight

A tiny, transparent larva on hatching

Sexual maturity

2-3 years

Gestation / incubation

3-6 days of egg development

Litter / clutch size

2,000 to 100,000 eggs per female

Sources consulted: Illinois DNR; U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; FishBase; Lake Life Fishing; Chesapeake Bay Program; Outdoor Doer; AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); Texas 4-H Study Guide

The pins mark the parks and dive sites where its presence is documented.