Species: Morone saxatilis, Striped Bass

Morone saxatilis (Walbaum, 1792)

Striped Bass

Body oblong, slightly compressed, elongate; mouth large, lower jaw projecting, top jawbone wide at rear and mostly exposed when mouth is closed; jaws with bands of small conical teeth, no canines; bands of small simple teeth on sides and front of roof of mouth, and in 2 elongate, distinctly separate parallel central patches on base of tongue; membranes under gills join well forward; gill rakers 19-29; rear edge of opercle with 2 flat points; preopercle rounded, finely serrated; dorsal fin notched to its base between spiny and soft parts, VIII-IX+ I,10-14; tail fin forked, heavily scaled on its base; anal fin III, 9-12, its origin well behind origin of soft dorsal fin, second spine slightly thickened and shorter than length of anal fin base when depressed; head and body covered with small, rough scales; lateral line continuous, with 57-65 scales.

Silvery, with 7-8 entire black stripes on body.

Reaches 200 cm, 57 kg; current IGFA world record 35.7 kg; maximum age > 25 y.

Migrates between rivers, estuaries and inshore marine areas; soft and hard bottoms.

Depth range: 0-30 m.

Two separate populations – Canada to N Florida on the Atlantic coast, and the northern Gulf of Mexico.