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Morone saxatilis (Walbaum, 1792)

Striped bass
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Morone saxatilis   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Morone saxatilis
Picture by Flescher, D.


United States (contiguous states) country information

Common names: Linesider, Rockfish, Roccus
Occurrence: native
Salinity: freshwater
Abundance: fairly common (chances are about 50%) | Ref: Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr, 2011
Importance: minor commercial | Ref: FAO, 1994
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: live export: yes;
Comments: Type locality, New York (Ref. 79012). Introduced into Pacific coast drainages and freshwater impoundments far inland (Ref. 5723). Uncommon south of Monterey Bay (Ref. 11545) and north of Coos, Bay, Oregon (Ref. 6885). Most stocks on the east coast are reserved for recreational fishing; little interest for consumption on the west coast (Ref. 9988). Present inshore north of Cape Hatteras (East Coast) (Ref. 37512). A popular fish sold in live fish markets. Found in 2 out of 6 live fish markets near the Lakes Erie and Ontario (Ref. 53249). Fairly common, but less so than before due to pollution of major spawning grounds (Ref. 86798). Hybridized with Morone chrysops. The hybrids known as "wipers" are common where Morone saxatilis have been introduced (Ref. 86798). Also Ref. 1998, 6885, 10294, 37512. Status of threat: 1). Gulf of Mexico populations: vulnerable. Criteria: 1,4; 2). Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence population: threatened. Criteria: 1; 3). St. Lawrence Estuary population: possibly extinct. Criteria: 1 (http://fisc.er.usgs.gov/afs/) (Ref. 81264).
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray, 1986
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Eupercaria/misc (Various families in series Eupercaria) > Moronidae (Temperate basses)
Etymology: saxatilis: saxatilis=living among rocks (Ref. 79012).
  More on author: Walbaum.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; anadromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 30 - ? m (Ref. 2850).   Temperate; 8°C - 25°C (Ref. 47172); 49°N - 27°N, 94°W - 59°W (Ref. 86798)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Atlantic: St. Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada to Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana; south in Florida, USA to St. Johns and Suwannee river drainages.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 200 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 86798); common length : 120 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9988); max. published weight: 57.0 kg (Ref. 2850); max. reported age: 30 years (Ref. 1468)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 9 - 11; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10 - 13; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 7 - 13.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabit coastal waters and are commonly found in bays but may enter rivers in the spring to spawn (Ref. 2850). Some populations are landlocked (Ref. 7251). Voracious and opportunistic feeder (Ref. 5951). Larvae feed on zooplankton; juveniles take in small shrimps and other crustaceans, annelid worms, and insects (Ref. 1998, 10294); adults feed on a wide variety of fishes (alewives, herring, smelt, eels, flounders, mummichogs, rock gunnels, sand lance, silver hake and silversides (Ref. 5951)) and invertebrates (squid, crabs, sea worms and amphipods (Ref. 5951)), mainly crustaceans (Ref. 1998). Feeding ceases shortly before spawning (Ref. 1998). Utilized fresh and eaten broiled and baked (Ref. 9988).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Move into fresh or brackish water to spawn (Ref. 39467). Females spawn more than once in a season, but they don't necessarily spawn every year (Ref. 1998).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Heemstra, Phillip C. | Collaborators

Heemstra, P.C., 1995. Moronidae. Lubinas. p. 1289-1292. In W. Fischer, F. Krupp, W. Schneider, C. Sommer, K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) Guia FAO para Identification de Especies para lo Fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. 3 Vols. FAO, Rome. (Ref. 9320)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 03 February 2019

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO(Aquaculture systems: production; Fisheries: production; publication : search) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
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Diet compositions
Food consumptions
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Predators
Ecology
Ecology
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Life cycle
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Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
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Stamps, coins, misc.
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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 1 - 23.5, mean 9.3 (based on 22 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5781   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00933 (0.00745 - 0.01169), b=3.06 (2.99 - 3.13), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.7   ±0.2 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.12; tm=5-7; tmax=30; Fec=14,000).
Prior r = 0.31, 95% CL = 0.20 - 0.46, Based on 2 full stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (61 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  High vulnerability (61 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.