User:LaughingVulcan/sandbox/Striped Bass Split/Striped bass

=Note= The proposal and idea can be found at Talk:Striped bass. Please comment on that talk page about the concept, if you don't mind. Specific edits to this page should go to: User Talk:LaughingVulcan/sandbox/Striped Bass Split/Striped bass or on the Striped bass Talk. This article will be what the Striped bass article would look like following the split. Article follows:

''This article is about the fish. For fishing for Striped Bass, see User:LaughingVulcan/sandbox/Striped Bass Split/Striped bass (fishing)''

The striped bass Morone saxatilis is a member of the temperate bass family native to North America but widely introduced elsewhere. Among the other names used for this species are striper bass, striped sea-bass, rock, and rockfish.

Morphology and lifespan
The striped bass is a typical member of the Moronidae family in shape, having a streamlined, silvery body marked with longitudinal dark stripes running from behind the gills to the base of the tail. Maximum size is 200 cm (6.6 feet) and maximum scientifically recorded weight 57 kg (125 US pounds). Striped bass are believed to live for up to 30 years.

Distribution
Striped bass are found along the Atlantic coastline of North America from the St. Lawrence River into the Gulf of Mexico to approximately Louisiana. They are anadromous fish that migrate between fresh and salt water. Spawning takes place in freshwater. They have been introduced to a number of other waters outside their natural range, including Ecuador, Iran, Latvia, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, and Turkey primarily for use as gamefish and in aquaculture.

In many of the large reservoir impoundments across the United States, striped bass have been introduced by state game and fish commissions for the purposes of recreational fishing and predator control of Gizzard Shad.

Environmental factors
The spawning success of striped bass has been studied in the San Francisco Bay-Delta water system, with a finding that high total dissolved solids (TDS) reduce spawning. At levels as low as 200 mg/L TDS there is an observable diminution of spawning productivity.

Life cycle
Striped bass breed in freshwater and spend their adult lives in saltwater (i.e., it is anadromous). They can also live exclusively in freshwater and currently flourish in inland water bodies such as Lake Murray, Lake Powell, Lake Havasu, Lake Texoma and Lake Mead. For saltwater striped bass, four important bodies of water with breeding stocks of striped bass are: Chesapeake Bay, Massachusetts Bay/Cape Cod, Hudson River and Delaware River. There are many smaller breeding areas that contribute to the overall striped bass population such as the Takanasse Lake. It is believed that many of the rivers and tributaries that emptied into the Atlantic, had at one time, breeding stock of striped bass. One of the largest breeding areas is the Chesapeake Bay, where populations from Chesapeake and Delaware bays have intermingled.

Hybrids with other bass
Striped bass have also been hybridized with white bass to produce sunshine bass, palmetto bass, or wiper; white perch to produce Virginia bass or Maryland bass; and yellow bass to produce paradise bass. These hybrids have been stocked in many freshwater areas across the U.S.

Fishing for striped bass
NB - article text transcluded to User:LaughingVulcan/sandbox/Striped Bass Split/Striped bass (fishing). A summary will have to go here.

Trivia

 * The rockfish was designated the state fish of Maryland in 1965.
 * In 2006 the New York state legislature designated the striped bass the state's saltwater fish, to go along with the brown trout, the state freshwater fish.
 * The town of Kingston, Oklahoma, near Lake Texoma, is the "Striper Capital of the World" and holds an annual Striper Festival.