Abstract
AbstractLarge numbers of advanced‐size Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides needed for stocking and studies investigating the effects of environmental and angling stressors may be produced using formulated diets. However, fish reared on formulated diets can have lower survival than wild fish. Although survival can be improved by briefly feeding cultured fish a live fish diet prior to stocking (herein, termed naturalization), the time needed for pellet‐reared fish undergoing naturalization to show improved and stable survival (i.e., to become naturalized) compared with pellet‐reared fish following a series of sublethal stressors has not been determined. Further, the difference in survival of pellet‐reared, naturalized, and wild advanced‐size Largemouth Bass following exposure to sublethal stressors has not been evaluated under controlled conditions. We conducted experiments to determine (1) the time required for pellet‐reared advanced‐size (246–373 mm TL) Largemouth Bass to become naturalized following a series of sublethal stressors and (2) differences in survival of pellet‐reared, naturalized, and wild advanced‐sized Largemouth Bass subjected to two different series of sublethal stressors. Survival was high and did not significantly differ before (85%) and after 1–12 weeks of naturalization (90–100%). Survival was 100% for pellet‐reared, naturalized, and wild Largemouth Bass following the series of sublethal stressors. We found no difference in survival among pellet‐reared, naturalized, and wild Largemouth Bass challenged with a series of sublethal stressors.
Published Version
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