What anatomical detail distinguishes Yellow Bass from White Bass and Striped Bass?
Answer
Complete absence of a tooth patch on the base of the tongue
The Yellow Bass possesses a distinctive anatomical marker that separates it clearly from congeners like the White Bass and the Striped Bass: it entirely lacks a patch of teeth located at the base of its tongue. This feature serves as a crucial identifier when visual identification based on color or stripe patterns might be ambiguous due to environmental factors or the condition of the fish specimen. While other morphological traits, such as fin ray counts, also aid in differentiation, the absolute lack of this specific lingual tooth patch provides definitive evidence for classifying the specimen as *Morone mississippiensis*.
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