248 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
tudinal stripes on the sides from which it receives its scientific name, lineatus, at once dis- 
tinguish this fish from all others in the Chesapeake. The young do not differ greatly from the 
adults, except in color, as stated in the description. 
The rockfish is carnivorous, feeding on various kinds of animal life of suitable size. The 
contents of 48 stomachs taken from specimens caught in salt and brackish water of the bay con- 
sisted of fish, crustaceans, annelid worms, and insects. The larger fish had fed principally on fish, 
whereas the smaller ones had eaten mainly crustaceans. The young had fed on Mysis, Gammarus, 
annelids, and insects. 
The striped bass is anadromous, coming in from the sea to brackish and fresh waters to spawn. 
Its chief spawning grounds perhaps are located in swift-running fresh-water streams. It ascends 
the Potomac River to above Washington, where each spring it is taken among the rapids and 
bowlders. Smith (1907, p. 272) states that in the Roanoke River, N. C., the most important 
striped-bass spawning ground is in the vicinity of Weldon, where the river falls 50 feet in about 
6 miles. “ In these rapids, where the muddy current is exceedingly strong and rendered very erratic 
by islands, bowlders, and rocks, the fish spawns * * Bean (1903, p. 527) states that spawning 
takes place either in the rivers or in the brackish waters of bays and sounds. In North Carolina 
spawning takes place from late April to early May; in the Chesapeake region most of the spawning 
occurs in May; while in the Gulf of Maine (Bigelow and Welsh, 1925, p. 256) the chief spawning 
season apparently occurs in June. 
The eggs of the striped feass may be incubated in shad jars, the young emerging in 48 hours in a 
water temperature of 67°, or in 36 hours at 70° F. After fertilization the eggs increase greatly in 
size. Smith (1907, p. 272) says that in 1903 S. G. Worth, while conducting hatching operations 
on the Roanoke River, N. C., stripped from a 20-pound fish a mass of eggs that after fertilization 
and immersion in water measured 60 quarts and contained 1,500,000 eggs, on the basis of 25,000 
eggs to a quart. According to the same author, who quotes Mr. Worth, a single female may be 
surrounded by many small males on the spawning grounds, and severe fights among the males 
take place. 
The growth of the striped bass appears to be variable, and it is difficult to determine age by length 
frequencies alone. Bean (1903, p. 527) records young 1 inch in length taken the second week of 
June in the Delaware, and he states that some of these had grown to a length of 4)^ inches by mid- 
October. In the Chesapeake the smallest fish, 30 millimeters (iyf, inches) in length, were taken on 
