Striped bass

Morone saxatilis

Morone saxatilis is a fish from the family of European sea bass ( Moronidae ). It occurs at the North American Atlantic coast from the St. Lawrence River in Canada to the St. Johns River in northern Florida and along the north coast of the Gulf of Mexico from western Florida to Louisiana. An excellent food fish he was introduced to other countries.

Features

Morone saxatilis can reach a maximum length of two meters and a maximum weight of 57 kg, but is usually in a length of 1.20 m. He is of silvery color with a dark, greenish back. Characteristic are the seven to eight, narrow, dark longitudinal stripes on the sides of the body. Morone saxatilis is fast growing and can be 30 years old.

• Fins formula: Dorsal IX-XI/10-13, Anal III/7-13.

Ecology

Morone saxatilis lives near the coast in the brackish waters of bays and estuaries. In the spring he wanders up the rivers to spawn. Some populations also live permanently in freshwater. The fish are voracious and not picky. Larvae feed on zooplankton, juveniles of small shrimp, other small crustaceans, annelids and insects. Adult fish feed on herring, smelts, eels, Funduliden, butter fish, sand eels, hake and silversides, as well as cephalopods, crabs, other crustaceans and worms. Shortly before spawning hear the fish to feed on. Morone saxatilis spawn in masses over sandbanks, where the fish circle each other.

Swell

• Kurt Fiedler: Textbook of Special Zoology, Volume II, Part 2: Fish, page 383, Gustav Fischer Verlag, Jena, 1991, ISBN 3-334-00339-6