#4904, "RE: Northern vs. Florida" In response to Reply # 3
There is no wat of telling northern from florida by just looking at them. The only way to tell is to count the scales alomg the lateral line. Florida's have 69-73 scales and northerns have 59-65 Matt
#4905, "RE: Northern vs. Florida" In response to Reply # 4
Actually, the only true way to tell is by DNA testing.
A good friend of mine is a Scientific Assistant at DFG, and he states that even their biologists can't tell from visual inspection. They must take samples to find out for sure.
Although I do know that in our impoundments, it is going to be extremely rare to have a largemouth that is 100 percent pure, the Florida's have been in our impoundments for many years, and have cross bred significantly.
I would assume that the largest majority of the initial pure Florida plants have died, now that they have been here for 15 plus years.