Sweetwater Fishing Forums
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: 4weightfanatic on September 30, 2011, 08:57:33 PM
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I've never really taken much notice before but having caught a few bass this season and love taking close head shots I've noticed something different about bass eyes say when compared to bream or barra. Rather than the standard round eyes I've noticed that bass have an elliptical shapeto their eyes like a tear drop with the point rounded. This got me thinking. As the pointy bit is forward is this an evolved adaption where the eye has become specialised at surface feeding. I believe Saratoga have special vision adapted for surface feeding and are easily spooked by shadows or figures e.g a fisherman on a casting deck when they get close. The archer fish on the other hand must have an even more complicated adaption to factor in refraction at the water to air interface. What are your thoughts ? PAT.
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(http://i719.photobucket.com/albums/ww196/beau4x4/P1010357.jpg)
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Spangled Perch have a very similar eye set Adam.
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G'Day Dave it's Pat not Adam you know the one with the distinguished look :) It would be interesting to know if anyone has any technical info on it as there seems to be sort of similar adaptions in birds e.g. forward set eyes on birds of prey (an apex predator) whilst side set eyes on birds that are the prey to enable them to see forward and backward.The same in animals like the forward set eyes of a cheetah as compared to side set eyes on a gazelle. Predator / Prey relationships are real interesting but I diverge. Pat.
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To be honest I'd never taken much notice before. :GoodPost)
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G'Day Dave it's Pat not Adam you know the one with the distinguished look :)
Sorry for the mix up Pat!
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Take a look at eye shapes within same species from various points across the nation. You'll see differences without even pulling out the magnifying glass. Barra as my example. It's so easy to pic a barra from 'somewhere else', just by looking at a photo. I imagine bass would be the same.
It's possible that adaptation to an environment or circumstance more commonly experienced in one area may be a reason for the variation. Eg, one river or system or gulf or whatever may have dirtier waters than the next area 150km away. Eyes are just one of the variations in body shape or design.
J
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Thanks Johnny this is the sort of info that I was hoping for. Cheers Pat.
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Hi Johnny, what sort of variations do you see in the barras eyes? Shape? I'm hoping to get ahold of my first barra in 2 weeks when we head to Mondy and surrounding rivers, it would be good to know what I may see in their eyes that would distinguish them :)
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UBK,
For a first time barra angler I doubt you'd notice any variations. Just open a fishing magazine and check for photos of fish from various Australian wide locations. Look at the pupil size and the area of eye ball outside the pupil as an example- that variation won't be seen in local fish but is noticable between areas. You'll also find that in barrra there will be differences in body contours- Dick Pasfield and I had a good chat about it in August over here in Qld, talking about scallops and convex and converse contours in the forehead and shoulder. The list goes on, but I'm sure many anglers who have caught a lot of fish species x can say they have noticed something that just makes them look different from other fish in other locations but may not have identified what it is. Check any species out- spanish mac, tusk fish, mangrove jack; all of those species vary from east to west and north to south- there's not just one mold. I hooked a barra once in a salty river and it had a tag in it- while it was swimming around the boat I commented to my friend about the shape and look of the fish and said, "This fish isn't from around here." It wasn't, it was tagged over 900km away.
Johnny
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Yeah I remember reading about your barra capure, 900km from where it was tagged.
Cheers for the info, hopefully I will get to start seeing some barra soon! :)
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(http://[IMG]http://i719.photobucket.com/albums/ww196/beau4x4/P1010735.jpg)[/img]