Rare metallic yellow bass pulled from lake by Florida biologists. Take a look

Strange things are often caught in Florida’s lakes, but even state biologists were fascinated when they found a bass that looked like it was made of gold.

Largemouth bass usually come in shades of green and tend to look a little dingy.

But this fish was all shiny and pretty, if not down right metallic-looking, a photo shows.

That condition makes it both extremely rare and lucky to be alive, the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute reported in a Dec. 27 Facebook post.

“While conducting electrofishing samples on Lake Tarpon, our team of Freshwater Fisheries Biologists came across this xanthic largemouth bass,” the institute wrote.

“Xanthism, an uncommon yellow pigmentation in an animal, is typically a result of a recessive genetic mutation similar to albinism. ... Although this trait is fascinating, it can make these fish more visible to predators, which might explain why specimens like this, particularly of this size, are considered rare.”

In this case, the condition suppressed black pigments, resulting in yellow pigments dominating the skin, the institute said.

Xanthism has been documented in other animals, including birds, and “may be caused by a genetic variation or by diet,” the Cornell Lab of Ornithology reports.

Details of when the yellow bass was caught were not released, and FWC did not provide a weight, but a photo shows it was as long as the angler’s forearm. The official state record for largemouth bass is 17.27 pounds, the FWC says.

The fact it was so big is even more surprising, given the 2,534-acre Lake Tarpon in Pinellas County is home to alligators.

Lake Tarpon is about 30 miles northwest of Tampa and is “one of the Top 10 bass lakes” in Florida, the FWC says.

This story was originally published December 28, 2023 at 2:22 PM with the headline "Rare metallic yellow bass pulled from lake by Florida biologists. Take a look."