Coded Wire Tag Insertion Sites for Small Fingerling Black Bass

Abstract

Abstract Comparison of small fingerling Guadalupe bass Micropterus treculi (25–38 mm total length, TL) implanted with coded wire tags 1.1 mm long × 0.25 mm in diameter in the cheek (N = 201) and nape (N = 190) musculature yielded 89% and 94% tag retention after 5 d, respectively. Nape musculature provided a larger target area than cheek musculature, which made tagging easier. Coded wire tags were then inserted into the napes of 31,500 largemouth bass M. salmoides (32–54 mm TL) to evaluate this location for marking large numbers of small fingerlings. Tag retention did not differ between 24 and 48 h, averaging 97% with pooled data. A subsample of fish randomly selected throughout tagging retained more than 98% of their tags at 27 d and lost less than 1% between 27 d and 9 months. Tagging-induced mortality was low after 24 h (mean = 2%, SD = 1%). The tagging rate for each tagging machine ranged from 389 to 583 fish/h. Nape musculature provided a viable tagging location for marking relatively large numbers of...