While conducting electrofishing surveys at Lake Tarpon, fisheries biologists made the rare discovery of a golden-colored largemouth bass with yellowish fins and tail.
Lake Tarpon, a 2,534-acre Fish Management Area in Pinellas County, Florida, is said to have an “excellent” largemouth bass population with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission fisheries biologists rating it as one of the Top 10 bass lakes in the state.
Biologists regularly sample bass by electroshocking areas of the lake. They typically find bass among the weeds which rim the shoreline.
As for the golden largemouth, FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute described it as an xanthic largemouth bass.
“Xanthism, an uncommon yellow pigmentation in an animal, is typically a result of a recessive genetic mutation similar to albinism,” the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute Facebook post states. “In this case, the black pigments (melanophores) are suppressed, allowing the expression of yellow pigments (xanthophores). Although this trait is fascinating, it can make these fish more visible to predators, which might explain why specimens like this, particularly of this size, are considered rare.”
Below is a photo of what the typical largemouth bass looks like:
The prized fish presumably was released back into the lake, which is the standard practice when conducting surveys via electrofishing.
Photos courtesy of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Wikipedia Commons.