Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose F1 Tiger Bass Identification

About 10 months ago we added 850 F1 Tiger Bass to our pond. The pond was already stocked with LMB (unknown strain but most likely the Northern Bass). My question is how can you tell the difference in the two? Are there any unique characteristics of the F1 that make them look different from the other strains? I am wanting to check their growth but not sure which ones are which. Thanks!

Best way is to do genetic testing. We have markers that can clearly identify F1 bass, pure Floridas, pure Northerns, and any mix in between. It's a non-profit service offered by my lab at Auburn University. Contact me if interested.

Auburngeneticsm thanks for the post. Can you post more info on the subject.

I think Florida and F1 will have vertical "stipes" and/or spots, were the northern's will more solid coloring.

Sure ewest!

We've developed panels of SNP markers linked to Florida or Northern ancestry. Florida bass for example at Marker 1 will be fixed or diagnostic for the "A" allele (i.e. it will have an AA genotype, while Northern bass will be fixed for the "T" allele (TT genotype). A true F1 bass resulting from crossing the two will have one allele from each parent and have an "AT" genotype for that particular marker (a heterozygote).

We typically run a panel of 38 SNP diagnostic markers distributed around the genome. While natural FL/N intergrade bass have some heterozygous (e.g. "AT") markers naturally, these levels remain around 50% naturally. A true F1, on the other hand, should be 100% heterozygous across all tested markers, and therefore, are easy identify. It's this high degree of heterozygosity that's linked to hybrid vigor and better performance. On the other hand, "F1s" created with less than pure FL and N parents, have reduced heterozygosity and reduced performance.

The genetic testing provides you a readout for each fish on what % FL, % Northern, % Heterozygous markers, and % Homozygous markers, Genotype (pure FL, pure N, F1, Fx, etc). With 38 diagnostic markers we can give a very accurate read of what's in a largemouth bass, ancestry-wise, compared to earlier allozymes and microsatellite markers.

Some questions you might want to answer...did I get the fish I just paid for; what's in this old pond?; did my stocking change the genetic structure of this pond 1, 2, 5 years on; I'm catching some huge fish, are these Floridas, F1s?

We just need a small non-lethal fin clip or you can even swab your bass and mail us a swab (if you don't want to clip a fin). We mail out sampling tubes and swab paks upon request. Turnaround time is ~2 weeks for results, but we can get results out in less than 2 days if needed. We've run the assay on thousands of bass to-date and are routinely checking several of the major bass hatcheries. We're a non-profit university service, so the fee just goes to covering lab expenses and supporting other bass genetic research.


Anyhow, probably more than folks wanted to know! Let me know if you have questions.

Thanks great info.

You should call/contact Bob Lusk (if you have not already)and write up a short piece to go in Pond Boss Mag.

ewest:

Will try to get in touch with him. We had talked at a SLMP conference a year ago about putting something together, but it fell through the cracks.

Thanks Auburngenetics! Very interesting read. So as I understand it, without genetic testing, there is really no way to visually distinguish the difference between a Florida, Northern, or F1.

Others here would have more hands-on experience trying (I'm stuck in the lab too much), but I sure can't and I think the consensus would be that you'd be making an educated guess at best.

Not even sure it would be an educated guess. I have seen pure Flas that look just like northerns and vice-versa. With F-1 and FX it is the same, some look like one parent and others the opposite parent. There is a lateral line scale count that is supposedly different but that is very hard to do a count of on a live fish. Further I do not know what the scale count would be on an F-1 or FX vs either parent. One trait of Fla genetics (not an answer but an indicator)are vertical lines around the face. I will find a pic of this and post.


These are F-1s - see odd stripes on head and mottled look.

Thanks guys!