SPAWNING BEHAVIOR OF FLORIDA LARGEMOUTH BASS IN AN INDOOR RACEWAY

Florida largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides floridanus were tagged a nd placed into an indoor raceway to document time of spawning, duratio n of spawning episodes, number of fish contributing to spawns, number of fish spawning multiple times, and percent of fish that spawned. In 8 d of observation, 16 spawns were initiated from 1500 to 1850 hours ( lights on at 0700 hours, off at 1900 hours), and 3 spawns occurred dur ing the night. Spawning episodes lasted from 110 to more than 240 min. Two spawns included participation by more than one male or female, bu t in both cases, activity of the third fish was brief and did not appe ar to contribute gametes. Five males (25%) and three females (15%) spa wned more than once, and multiple-spawning males always used the same nest. Fifty percent of the males and 65% of the females spawned at 10 mat locations during observations. Six mat locations were used after o bservations ceased, which added to the 10 confirmed locations and 2 ma t sites from night spawns, indicating 90% male participation. Results indicated that the majority of spawning occurred during afternoon and evening hours and that males spawned multiple times using the same nes t. Gamete contribution diversity appears to be adequate when raceway s pawning is employed.