LIFE HISTORY OF THE STRIPED BASS 
837 
body has become much more robust and all traces of the larval finfold are gone. The 
ventral fins are now present. Pigmentation is heavy and consists of a medial line of 
chromatophores that extend along the side from the pectoral fin to the tail, a large 
number of heavy chromatophores on the head, and various scattered markings on the 
body, expecially in the ventral region. (See fig. 16.) 
The young striped bass at a length of 36 mm (1.4 in.) and from 3 to 4 weeks old 
has the general shape of the adult fish, is well scaled, and has fully developed fins and 
Figure 17.— Striped bass young, 36 millimeters (1.4 inches) in length. Taken August 28, 1929, at Back River, Va. 
rays. Pigmentation consists of minute black dots scattered over the entire body. 
Larger chromatophores are present on the top of the head. A series of about nine 
oblique V -shaped lines appear along the lateral line of the fish and probably represent 
blood vessels. (See fig. 17.) 
The young fish at a length of 130 mm (5.1 in.) and approximately 1 year old pos- 
sesses the characteristic lateral black stripes ranging from six to eight in number and 
extending from the edge of the opercle to the base of the tail. There appears also about 
Figure 18.— Striped bass young, 130 millimeters (5 inches) in length. Taken June 1, 1932, at Sassafras River, Md. 
seven fainter vertical bars extending from the base of the dorsal fins to somewhat 
below the lateral line. The dorsal and caudal fins are quite heavily marked with fine 
dots. (See fig. 18.) 
GROWTH 
A thorough study of the growth of the striped bass in California was made by 
Scofield (1931). This investigator found that on the basis of length -frequency dis- 
tributions the average length of the fish at the end of the first year of life (April) 
