ANIMALIA

 
 

  Bass
 
 

Common Name(s):  Bass  Sea Bass   Scientific Name:  Dicentrarchus labrax  Family: Moronidae   Minimum Size:  41 cm   Weight:   Specimen fish over 4.5 kg (10 lb)

            Photographs by  Andy Horton
 

Identification: Silvery streamlined fish with a pair of dorsal fins, the first spiny with 8 or 9 spines, and the second with the first ray spiny, followed by 12 or 13 soft rays. Medium-sized pectoral fins and slightly forked caudal fin.  Sizes:        24 November 2007 The long standing UK shore caught Bass angling record (19 lb) was broken by a fish that weighed 8.95 kg (19 lb 11 oz 12 dr) caught by local angler Steve Cave at Sandown Pier, Isle of Wight.  Total Fishing Report (with a photograph) First Notification by Daniel Ward on the Marine Wildlife of the North-east Atlantic Ocean Group       British Angling Records:        Boat    8.88 kg (19 lb -09-02)  off Reculver, Herne Bay        P. McEwan      1987        Shore  8.62 kg (19 lb -00-00)  South Breakwater, Dover      D. L. Bourne    1988        World Angling Record:                   9.40 kg (20 lb -11-00)  Saintes Maries le Mer            J. B. Bayle        1986  British Sea Fish Angling Records Similar species in British seas:  Maigre Drumfish (extremely rare) ,  Spotted Bass, Dicentrarchus punctatus,(vagrant). Breeding:  Offshore in spring. Larvae grow to about 6 mm after 10 days.  Growth in first year up to 90 mm and second year up to 160 mm, less in captivity. This is much faster than the Grey Mullet, Chelon labrosus but slower than the Pollack, Pollachius pollachius.  Nursery Areas Fishing for bass from any vessel is prohibited in 34 separate areas for all or part of the year. The nursery areas comprise river estuaries, harbours etc. where juvenile bass usually predominate.The prohibition does not apply to fishing from the shore.  e.g. 4. Chichester Harbour       1 May -31 October All tidal waters enclosed by a line drawn 192°  true from Eastoke Point to Chichester Bar Beacon, then 078°  true to Cakeham Tower. 5. Langstone Harbour       1 May -31 October All tidal waters enclosed by a line drawn 153°   true from the Gunnery Range Light at Eastney Point to Langstone Fairway Buoy (50° 46.25'N, 01°  01.27'W), then 033°  true to the foreshore east of Gunner Point. 6. Portsmouth Harbour      1 May -31 October All tidal waters enclosed by a line drawn from Gilkicker Point to Southsea Castle. Ref:  Bass: Nursery Areas and other Conservation Measures (MAFF 1990)    Very young Bass (25 mm long) 'O' Group Bass captured during the Bass survey, Helford River 2/08/2007 Beach Seine Bass Survey, Ruan Creek 12/07/2007 Photographs by Nigel Knight Helford River Bass Survey pictures Habitat: Open water, near rocks, shoals of  'School Bass' enter estuaries during the summer (in Sussex, they first appear in June) and autumn in southern England. The very large fish may be solitary. Juveniles venture far up estuaries into brackish water to below 3.0% salinity in summer.  Food: Prawns, shrimps, crabs, small fish (e.g. Sand-eels).  Small fish eat prawns and shrimps. Large fish prey on other fish like Pout Whiting and Poor Cod.  Range:  NE Atlantic (Norway-Senegal), All British coasts (commoner in the south and west), Mediterranean, Black Sea.  Additional Notes: A pelagic, or open water, fish like the predatory Bass uses its greater speed to capture smaller fish and prawns. Its method of swimming is worth looking at closely in Public Aquaria. At the start of a burst the head seems to align at an angle and with a pronounced undulation of the caudal peduncle (body in front of the tail fin) and with two or more flicks of the tail fin, the fish swims strongly forward. At speed the other fins are clamped down, but as soon as it brakes the spiny dorsal fin rises to maintain stability.        ISBN 0-412-40090-1 Bass are subject to a restricted commercial fishery in the English Channel and off the south and west coasts of England and Wales. The largest fisheries are in France and Spain. Large quantities are also landed in Italy.  Bass (Index to British Marine Fish /External) Enemies:  Porbeagle Shark Parasites: Lamprey Young Bass in a Home Aquarium Bass Fishery & Cetacean Bycatch, NE Atlantic by Nicolas De Meulan Jouault (Article)   Early September 2013 A most extraordinary report of a Striped Bass, Morone saxatilis, was caught on rod and line off Dover Breakwater, Kent. This is an unusual report because this is a coastal anadromous fish native to the east American coast.  Sea Angler Report & Image on facebook Introductions of Morone saxatilis "I looked at the photographs and it looks more like an unusual European Bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, that is stripy and not a true Striped Bass, Morone saxatilis. The size and position of the eye coupled with the shape of the head and gill covers just looks more Dicentrarchus labrax." Full Opinion Message by Dan Ward on the Marine Wildlife of the NE Atlantic Yahoo Group "The mouth on the fish in the photo seems small, the structure of the head seems different and the location of the pectoral fin seems to be on the midline as opposed to below the midline on Striped Bass." Message by David O'Neill on the Marine Wildlife of the NE Atlantic Yahoo Group NB: I cannot discern the subtle differences, but my query is how did it cross the Atlantic? The stripes seem to indicate the Striped Bass.  Andy Horton 12 February 2006 Bass with a blunt head  Photograph by David Wilkinson (Technical Officer, Sea Fisheries, Commerce & Employment Department, Guernsey) This most extraordinary looking Bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, was caught off the coast of Guernsey, tagged and returned to the sea. Its blunt head looks like that of the Pagrus Sea Bream and several other fish. This Bass weighed an estimated 4.5 kg.  Report by David Wilkinson via Richard Lord (Guernsey)     14 February 2001 A huge Bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, is caught in a trawl west of Guernsey. Its weight of 9.52 kg (21 lb 4 oz) would have exceeded the world angling record if it had been caught on rod and line.  Report by from Andrew Syvret via Nicolas Jouault Photograph February 2000 Pevensey Bay, Sussex: The estuary is back to normal again now, water levels are well up, higher than usual, and if the fine weather keeps up all will be well. The shoals of Bass were about yesterday again, mainly schoolies ranging from about 6" to 12" in size, with a smattering of much bigger fish in evidence. More.  (Report by Richard Huggett.)  December 1999 A Bass of nearly 6 kg (13 lb) was caught from the shore near Eastbourne, East Sussex. (Report by Richard Huggett.) 25 August 1999 Bass of  7.144 kg (15 lb 12 oz) caught off Brighton by Niki Barker. A even larger Bass was seen by a diver around a wreck off Brighton in September 1999.  (Len Nevell Sea Angling Reports) 22 September 1999 A Bass of about 8 kg was caught 4 miles off Littlehampton, West Sussex, by Matt Green.  (Len Nevell Sea Angling Reports) Summer 1999 Pair trawlers from Newhaven fish for Bass very close in shore off Shoreham-by-Sea on 3 occasions, on one occasion with two pairs (4 trawlers). And April 2000. August 1998: Large Bass continue to be taken from the shore and piers at Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex. The latest weighed 6.35 kg (14 lb).  12 January 1998:  At the confluence of East and West Looe rivers, Jon Makeham discovered 200 dead Bass, Dicentrarchus labrax. This marine fish enters estuaries during the summer and shoals of small fish sometimes remain throughout the winter. The cause of the deaths is unknown. The largest fish were 50 cm in length      Summer 1999 Small bass up to 1 lb caught off Clevedon, NE England.  EMail: LKnwls@aol.com 6 August 2000 Large Bass, up to 2 kg, cruised into the entrance of Shoreham Harbour, (TQ 235 048) scattering the shoals of Sand Smelt, Atherina presbyter.  Scottish Bass Report UK BASS Young Bass in the Adur Estuary 1999   Information wanted: Please send any records of this fish, with location, date, who discovered it, how it was identified, prevalence, common name and any other details to  Shorewatch Project EMail Glaucus@hotmail.com.  All messages will receive a reply.  Shorewatch Project Report  Forms

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