Beloved Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis): North America's Valorous, Valuable, Valued Freshwater Fish

Stripes are controversial. In human terms, they call to mind a host of questions. For example, how narrow can the stripe be and still be a stripe instead of a line? How wide does the stripe need to be? At what point will the striping cease to be a stripe and become a block?

What colors have to be in the stripe? What colors make up the background? How little or much must the colors blend or contrast?

Which way should the stripe go? Should the stripe be on the diagonal? Should it lie on the horizontal? Or should it run vertically?

Perhaps the biggest issue concerns the dimension and the direction of the striping. For example, fashion and image conscious individuals express anxiety over the size of the stripe. Is narrow striping thinning? Is wide striping quite fattening?

Additionally, trend and shape oriented people particularly give vent to worries over the turn of the stripe. Is horizontal striping thickening to the figure in life and on film? Is vertical striping somewhat trimming?

Such questions abound for many reasons, but not because stripes are the monopoly of humans. Stripes can be found in nature. Particularly dramatic examples may be drawn from the fish world.

In their watery habitats, fish appear to lack stripe angst. The piscine (Latin: piscnus, "of or relating to fish") world in fact gives the impression of the united solidarity of diversity. For example, the striped bass organizes into schools. Membership will not reflect the conclusion of one or another striping as better or worse, less or more flattering. It instead will reflect the forming of camouflaging, defensive groups of similarly aged, sized and striped individuals.

All stripes are fine as long as age, size and striping match within each group of striped bass swimminers. It is a question of peer defense through uniform group impact. It is not a question of competitive impact through individual self-image.

What is the common name of the striped bass? Striped bass is the common name which people use in their daily lives to refer to the striped bass. But depending upon the locale and the situation, that term may not be the only name to be used. A list of alternative common names will include any of the following:

• Atlantic striped bass;

• Chesapeake stripers;

• Freshwater striped bass, freshwater striped black bass, freshwater striper, freshwater stripes;

• Linesider, linesiders;

• Money fish;

• Pimpfish;

• Rock, rockfish;

• Southern striped bass, southern striped black bass, southern striper, southern stripes;

• Squidhound;

• Striped black bass, striped sea-bass, striped sea bass, striper, striper bass, stripers, stripesie, stripesy, stripey.

What is the scientific name of the striped bass? Johann Julius Walbaum (June 30, 1724-August 21, 1799) is the German-born gentleman who is credited with giving the striped bass its scientific name. Johann’s birth occurred in the Oker River town of Wolfenbüttel in central Germany. His death took place in the Trave River town of Lübeck in northern coastal Germany.

During his own lifetime, Johann witnessed the decline and subsequent partial recovery of his hometown as a center of art, culture and learning. For example, residents and visitors wrote about the exciting happenings associated with 3-1/4 centuries of rule by the dukes of Brunswick, until the latter relocated to neighboring Braunschweig in mid-century. They wrote again of the ancient holdings made available to all Europe with the pioneer lending policies of the town’s Herzog-August-Bibliothek (“Herzog August [Ducal] Library”) under the late 18^th century directorship of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (January 22, 1729-February 15, 1781).

In line with his hometown’s commitment to culture and learning, Johann became a student and practitioner of medicine. As a physician, he made an effort to advance the efficacy of the medical profession. For example, he realized the importance of the use of gloves in decreasing the incidence of post-operative infection.

At the same time, Johann developed other nascent scientific interests. For example, he devoted considerable attention to the study of natural history and phenomena. He particularly was interested in classification schemes regarding the world’s animals and plants. In fact, he was a contemporary of Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-January 10, 1778). He especially was interested in the system of taxonomy (Greek: τάξις, taxis, “arrangement” + νομία, nomia, “method”) which Sir Linnaeus pioneered and refined during the last four decades of the Swedish proto-ecologist’s life.

Johann built up an extensive collection of specimens. He in fact forged a solid reputation among his peers for the great distances which he traveled in order to collect unfamiliar species which he then classified. Of particular interest to Johann were the fishes of Germany and the rest of the world.

The striped bass first was described in 1792. The specimen originally was from the waters of New York State. The first official description and scientific designation were credited to Johann Julius Walbaum, who enthusiastically reviewed and expanded scientific knowledge regarding the world’s fishes.

Morone saxatilis is the scientific name of the striped bass. The scientific name Morone is accepted among scientists even though the original meaning intended by its creator, New York-born physician and naturalist Samuel Latham Mitchill (August 20, 1764-September 7, 1831), is unknown. The scientific name saxatilis is derived from the Latin for “of or relating to (dwelling among the) rocks.”

What does the striped bass call home? The striped bass can be called a native of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico coastlines, as well as of the Mississippi, Missouri, Rio Grande and St. Lawrence River basins, of North America. In terms of the Atlantic coast, its home range runs from the St. Lawrence River of Canada all the way south to the St. John’s River of northern Florida. In terms of the Gulf of Mexico, it runs from Florida’s Suwannee River all the way westwards to the Lake Pontchartrain area of Louisiana.

The striped bass also is a popular introduced fish throughout the western United States as well as up and down the Pacific coast of North and South America. For example, the striped bass widely is stocked throughout Texas. In fact, the great blue bonnet state maintains stable striped bass populations despite the fish’s up-and-down existence elsewhere at select times and in select places throughout North America due to damming as well as chemical, nutrient and sediment pollution.

Within its native and introduced ranges, the striped bass looks for the following conditions to prevail in its watery habitats:

• Brackish bays and estuaries as well as salt water for migrations between freshwater spawning seasons;

• Depths of 99+ feet (30.18+ meters);

• Freshwater flowing over rocky riffles or sandy bottoms for spawning;

• Higher pH levels of alkaline waters;

• Shallow waters over grassy, gravelly, mossy, rocky or sandy substrates;

• Water temperatures between 46.4 to 77 °F (8 and 25 °C), with a preferred ceiling of 71.6 °F (22 °C).

The striped bass can move without after or side effects between the lower and upper limits of its tolerance in terms of water temperatures. It likewise can survive regularly close encounters with fresh, brackish and marine waters. For example, it tolerates salt content up to 35.0 parts per thousand (ppt).

But what the striped bass will not tolerate will be a shift from the higher pH levels of alkaline waters to the lower limits of acidic waters.

How do you know that it is a striped bass? The striped bass can be recognized by the following physical attributes:

Head:

• Lower jaw slightly protruding;

• Mouth large;

• Tongue with 2 parallel patches of small teeth in back;

Body:

• Back slightly arching and black, brown, olive green or steely blue gray;

• Belly iridescent white;

• Lateral line running from the 2 sharp spines on the gill cover margins to the tail base and serving as a sensory organ for the detection of movement, pressure change, and vibrations;

• Mature body length of 3.9 feet (120 to 150 centimeters), with a known maximum of 6.6 feet (200 centimeters);

• Mature body weight of 15 to 20 pounds (6.80 to 9.07 kilograms), with different ranges from 55 to 89 pounds (24.95 to 40.37 kilograms) possible in different locales as well as with known maximums of 112 pounds (50.8 kilograms) in Massachusetts during 1884 and of 125 pounds (57 kilograms) in North Carolina during 1891;

• Scales;

• Silvery;

• Sides white or silvery to pale silver green with brassy sheen and with 7 or 8 black to dark olive, lengthwise stripes running from behind the gills to the tail base;

• Streamlined;

• Tail fin forked;

Fins, rays, spines:

• Anal fin concave and pale to dusky green or black, with 9 to 12 rays and 3 spines, of which the middle spine is bigger and stouter than the other two;

• Caudal (Latin: caudālis, “of or relating to the tail of an animal”) somewhat forked, pale to dusky green or black, and with pointed lobes;

• Dorsal (Latin: dorsālis, “of or relating to the back of an animal”) fins separated, pale to dusky green or black, with 10 to 14 rays and 1 spine on the second fin and 8 to 11 spines on the first fin;

• Pectoral (Latin: pectorālis, “of or relating to the breast of an animal”) fin greenish, with 13 to 17 rays;

• Pelvic fin dusky or white.

What does the striped bass eat? The young striped bass eats midge larvae and zooplankton (Greek: ζῷον, zōon, “animal” + πλαγκτός, planktos, “errant” and therefore “drifer”). The juvenile feeds on annelid worms, aquatic insects, mollusks, and small shrimps. The adult preys on fish such as the following:

• Alewife;

• Anchovy;

• Atlantic menhaden;

• Black crappie;

• Crab;

• Eel;

• Flounder;

• Gizzard and twait shad;

• Herring;

• Lobster;

• Mummichog;

• Rock gunnel;

• Sand lance;

• Silver hake;

• Silversides;

• Smelt;

• Squid.

A favorite fishy prey is the pencil-thin sand eel (Ammodytes americanus), which ranges along the scenic eastern seaboard from North Carolina's Cape Hatteras northwards to northern Newfoundland and Labrador. Sand eels, also known as sand launces, abound in the waters off Massachusetts' Cape Cod. Striped bass share their sand eel indulgence, as well as their taste for herring, with Atlantic puffins (Fratercula arctica). Thus, both sand eels and herrings live under the threat of multi-pronged attacks, either from stripers which have the home advantage of living within the watery environment or from puffins which are deep divers with powerful wings and webbed feet as rudders.

Striped bass also will prey on such invertebrates as amphipods, crabs, sea worms, and squid.

What eats the striped bass? The striped bass young can be a favorite food source for planktonic copepods (Cyclops bicuspidatus) as well as for adult striped bass bent on cannibalism. The juvenile and the adult may be eaten by Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix), sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus), seals, sharks, silver hake (Merluccius bilinearis), and tomcod (Microgadus tomcod). Additionally, the adult will be a much prized prey for human predators on angling and fishing outings.

What is the spawning time of the striped bass? The striped bass traditionally breeds in the Chesapeake and Massachusetts Bays as well as in the Gulf of Maine and in the Delaware, Hudson and Roanoke Rivers. Spawning can begin in water temperatures of 50.9 to 74.48 °F (10.5 to 23.6 °C). That tends to mean a spawning season of as early as mid-February and as late as May or June, depending upon the locale.

The female spotted bass can produce anywhere from 15,000 to 3 or 4 million eggs, of which less than 1% will survive hatching and youth. But the actual number depends upon the age and the size of the female. For example, a mature female is capable of producing 80,000 eggs per pound 1.1 pound (0.5 kilogram) of body weight.

The female and the male spotted bass do not remain to provide any kind of parental care or defense for the fertilized eggs. The female goes out into coastal waters. The male hovers in estuaries.

The buoyant, greenish, non-sticky, spherical eggs may measure about 0.05 inches (1.3 millimeters) in diameter when unfertilized. They measure anywhere from 0.08 or 0.12 to 0.18 inches (2 or 3 to 4.6 millimeters) when fertilized and water hardened. They remain suspended in water columns until hatching within 2 to 3 days at water temperatures of 67.82 to 68.9 °F (19.9 to 20.5 °C). The newly hatched fry will require about 4 to 10 days in order to become independent in their movements and feeding.

The female striped bass is sexually mature in 3 to 5 years. The male matures in 2 to 4 years. The striped bass may live to the age of 10 or 11 years, with a known maximum of 31 years.

What is the use of the striped bass? Culture, fishing and food are the most visible uses of the striped bass.

In terms of culture, the striped bass earned the admiration of early European settlers in North America. North American colonists marveled over the abundant populations of striped bass and the ease with which the fish could be caught. They treasured the tastiness of striped bass flesh as well as the versatility of striped bass cuisine. They were indeed impressive in their early environmental sensitivity toward the striped bass, whose use as fertilizer instead of food was prohibited in Massachusetts as early as 1639.

The striped bass in fact has a particularly enduring legacy from colonial times in North America. Early on, its existence was valued as symbolic of the democratization of the elite in North America. Specifically, the striped bass was viewed as the colonists’ Atlantic salmon, available only to the powerful and the wealthy in Europe. Additionally, its cultivation and protection were contributors to increased colonial literacy since the first public schools in North America were organized and maintained by a tax on striped bass fishery in 1670.

The persisting cultural legacy of the striped bass as a valuable and valued fish can be seen in its membership on lists of state symbols in the United States. Specifically, the striped bass is the official state fish of Maryland (1965), Rhode Island (2000), and South Carolina (1972). As the official salt water game fish, it also shares state fish status with the state freshwater fish, the brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), in New Hampshire (1994) and in Virginia (2011). Additionally, as the official marine fish, it shares state fish status, again with the brook trout, in New York (1975).

In terms of fishing, the striped bass can be caught above or below surface waters. For example, it can be so fixated on surface leaps in pursuit of forage fish that it quickly becomes a fisher’s first catch. But usually, the tracking and trapping of the spotted bass requires attention to the fish’s predictable routine and stimulus-response behavior. The few following guidelines will be important to keep in mind:

Times:

Hours of darkness, nightfall to just before dawn, all year-round except immediately before and after spawning;

Places:

Cooler, deeper or spring-fed waters, summer;

Deeper, warmer waters, winter;

Freshwater spawning grounds near surface and upstream, spring to very early summer;

Methods:

Live bait, such as Atlantic menhaden, bloodworms, clams, herring, mackerel, sandworms, shad;

Surf casting, trolling.

In terms of food, the striped bass best is eaten fresh. Its flesh profits when the fish is kept cool from the catch through transport to preparation for serving. It tends to be most popular in baked and broiled fish dishes.

What does the future hold for the striped bass? If left to its own devises, the vividly striped bass is anadromous (Greek: ἀνά, ana, “up” + δρόμοs, dromos, “running”). It likes to be born and to spawn in freshwaters. But it prefers to spend its non-spawning time in the brackish waters of bays and estuaries and the salty waters of marine coastlines.

The valiant striped bass is adaptable enough that it can survive in completely freshwater habitats. Such a situation may happen through deliberate introduction of the valorous fish into inland waters. It also may occur when the vigorous striped bass becomes landlocked in freshwater bodies, particularly through damming.

But there is a point at which each participant in nature’s cycle on Planet Earth faces a mortality which may or may not be beyond the control of a set place and time. In human terms, it is the pace which is set by religious belief, scientific understanding and technological breakthrough. In fish terms, it is the result of human actions and natural events whose unfurling may or may not prove catastrophic.

In short, the striped bass is vulnerable to human-impelled damming and polluting of its watery habitats. Its precarious plight along the Atlantic Coast motivated the signing of the subsequently successful Executive Order 13449 whereby 43^rd U.S. President George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) proclaimed on October 20, 2007:

“It shall be the policy of the United States to conserve striped bass and red drum for the recreational, economic and environmental benefit of the present and future generations of Americans… .”

Today’s North Americans unite with the colonials of yesteryear in rooting for the valiant, valorous, valuable, valued, vigorous, vivid striped bass.

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the Internet; as well as to Stessily for original artwork included below.

My special thanks to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and U.S. Department of Agriculture for the professionalism which is evinced in the high-caliber data and images which they make available in print and on the internet.

My special thanks also to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Texas State University-San Marcos, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, and Chesapeake Bay Program for the high caliber of their online resources.

“Executive Order 13449 of October 20, 2007: Protection of Striped Bass and Red Drum Fish Populations.” Federal Register: Presidential Documents, 72 FR 60531, Vol. 72, No. 205, Wednesday, October 24, 2007. http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/07-5299.pdf (Last accessed November 28, 2011)

Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly (Eds.). “Morone saxatilis.” In: FishBase. October 6, 2010 version. http://www.fishbase.org/summary/speciessummary.php?id=353 (Last accessed November 28, 2011)

Gooch, Bob. Virginia Fishing Guide. Revised Edition. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1992.

Hart, David. Flyfisher’s Guide to Virginia Including West Virginia’s Best Fly Fishing Waters. Belgrade, MT: Wilderness Adventures Press, Inc., 2006.

Hassan-Williams, Carla, and Timothy H. Bonner “Morone saxatilis striped bass.” Texas State University-San Marcos Department of Biology: Texas Freshwater Fishes. http://www.bio.txstate.edu/~tbonner/txfishes/morone saxatilis.htm (Last accessed November 28, 2011)

Jenkins, Robert E. and Noel M. Burkhead. Freshwater Fishes of Virginia. Bethesda, MD: American Fisheries Society, 1994.

Rohde, Fred C., Rudolf G. Arndt, David G. Lindquist, and James F. Parnell. Freshwater Fishes of the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. Chapel Hill and London: The University of North Carolina Press, 1994.

“Striped Bass Morone saxatilis.” Chesapeake Bay Program Bay Field Guide. http://www.chesapeakebay.net/striped_bass.htm (Last accessed November 28, 2011)

“Striped Bass, Morone saxatilis.” EFISH: The Virtual Aquarium of The Department of Fisheries & Wildlife Sciences of Virginia Tech. http://cnre.vt.edu/efish/families/stripedbass.html (Last accessed November 28, 2011)

“Striped Bass Morone saxatilis.” Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission (PFBC) Gallery of Pennsylvania Fishes Chapter 21: Temperate Basses, Family Moronidae. http://www.fish.state.pa.us/pafish/fishhtms/chap21.htm (Last accessed November 28, 2011)

Copyright Monday, November 28, 2011 by Derdriu