Morone saxatilis
| Morone saxatilis | ||||||||||||
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Morone saxatilis |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Morone saxatilis | ||||||||||||
| ( Walbaum , 1792) | ||||||||||||
Morone saxatilis , sometimes referred to as rock perch, is a fish fromthe sea bass family (Moronidae). It occurs on the North American Atlantic coast from the Saint Lawrence River in Canada to the St. Johns River in northern Florida and on the north coast of the Gulf of Mexico from western Florida to Louisiana. It was introduced to other countries as an excellent food fish.
features
Morone saxatilis can reach a maximum length of two meters and a maximum weight of 57 kg, but usually stays at a length of four feet. It is silvery in color with a dark greenish back. The seven to eight, narrow, dark longitudinal stripes on the sides of the body are characteristic. Morone saxatilis is fast-growing and can be 30 years old.
- Fin formula : Dorsal IX – XI / 10–13, Anale III / 7–13.
ecology
Morone saxatilis lives near the coast in the brackish water of bays and river mouths. In the spring it migrates up the rivers to spawn. Some populations also live permanently in fresh water. The fish are voracious and not picky. Larvae feed on zooplankton , fry on small shrimp, other small crustaceans , annelid worms and insects. Adult fish eat herring , smelts , eels, Funduliden , butter fish , sand eels , hake and silversides , and cuttlefish , crabs, other crustaceans and worms. Just before spawning, the fish stop eating. Morone saxatilis spawns en masse over sandbanks, with the fish circling 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
Web links
- Morone saxatilis on Fishbase.org (English)
- Morone saxatilis inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: NatureServe, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2014.