Green heads

Morone saxatilis

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth13–46 m
Water temperature8–17 °C
Best monthsMay, September, and October
How commonCommon

Photo credit: no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

About this species

The striped bass, also called the Atlantic striped bass, striper, linesider, rock, or rockfish, is an anadromous perciform fish of the family Moronidae found primarily along the Atlantic coast of North America. It has also been widely introduced into inland recreational fisheries across the United States. Striped bass found in the Gulf of Mexico are a separate strain referred to as Gulf Coast striped bass.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Striped bass”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 789 records
February: 2,076 records
March: 2,531 records
April: 3,432 records
May: 4,209 records
June: 2,559 records
July: 2,562 records
August: 3,347 records
September: 3,647 records
October: 5,057 records
November: 2,590 records
December: 849 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 13–46 m · Deepest record: 287 m

0–10 m: 20 records
10–20 m: 113 records
20–30 m: 110 records
30–40 m: 88 records
40–50 m: 45 records
50–60 m: 8 records
60–70 m: 10 records
70–80 m: 6 records
80–90 m: 4 records
90–100 m: 3 records
100–110 m: 3 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 8–17 °C

8–10 °C: 86 records
10–12 °C: 0 records
12–14 °C: 48 records
14–16 °C: 447 records
16–18 °C: 3 records

Photos

(c) Rudyard, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Jonathan Layman, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Bobby McCabe, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Grant Foster, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Green heads, Rock (fish), Squid-hounds, Striped bass, Atlantic Striped Bass, green heads, Linesider, Maryland Bass Hybrid, Palmetto Bass Hybrid, Paradise Bass Hybrid, Roccus, Rock, rock (fish), Rockfish, squid-hounds, striped bass, Striped Bass, Striped Bass, Striped Sea-bass, Striped sea-bass, Striped Sea Bass, Striper, Striper Bass, Sunshine Bass Hybrid, Virginia Bass Hybrid, Whiterock Bass Hybrid, Wiper Hybrid

Names in 4 more languages

German: Felsenbarsch
Spanish: lobina estriada, Lobina rayada del Atlántico, Lubina estriada
French: Bar d'Amérique, Bar d'Amérique, Bar rayé, bar rayé
Japanese: ストライプドバス

Other scientific names: Morone lineatus, Morone saxitilis, Perca mitchilli, Perca saxatilis, Roccus lineatus, Roccus saxatilis, Roccus striatus, Sciaena lineata

Similar species

Spotted sea-bass
Dicentrarchus punctatus

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
153,148 open-data records from 1913 to 2025.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.

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