ALL THAT GLITTERS

This catch could be one in a million. So ‘They’ say.

Practicing for a fishing tournament on the James River in Virginia Jacob Moore caught an unusually coloured bass. In fact it was an almost 17” golden largemouth.

“Golden largemouth bass are extremely rare and most anglers have never seen them, let alone heard of them before,” said Alex McCricklard, Aquatic Education Coordinator of the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. “The fish is a product of a genetic mutation that alters the skin pigments called ‘xanthism’. Yellow pigmentation dominates in xanthism as you can see in Moore’s golden largemouth.” (See photo)

After a photo or two Moore live released the unusual fish. Such goldens have been caught, and photographed, from Florida to Ontario, Canada.

The Fish and Wildlife Research Institute released a photo of fisher Jeff Puckett with an xanthic largemouth that illustrates the yellow to orange-gold colouring that has been documented in both salt water and freshwater fish. Sometimes just parts of the fish are xanthochromic.

The American Fisheries Society explains that “Xanthism is caused by a mutation that depresses the presence of black-pigmented melanophores thus allowing the yellow-pigmented xanthophores to be expressed. Generally, skin colour in fish has a genetic base controlled by one or several genes but may also be influenced by factors such as behaviour, disease or physiological stress.”

Smallmouth bass, crappie and gar are just some species that have featured xanthic yellow. The aquatic industry has used xanthism to create golden trout, tilapia and catfish.

No surprise, studies tell us that xanthic fish are more vulnerable to predators perhaps contributing to their uncommon appearance.

To paraphrase The Bard: “All that glitters may not be goldfish!”