White seabass or white weakfish, ''Atractoscion nobilis'', is a species of croaker occurring from

Magdalena Bay Magdalena Bay ( es, Bahía Magdalena) is a long bay in Comondú Municipality along the western coast of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. It is protected from the Pacific Ocean by the unpopulated sandy barrier islands of Isla Magdalena ...

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, to

Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. They usually travel in

schools A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

over deep rocky bottoms (0–122 m) and in and out of

kelp Kelps are large brown algae seaweeds that make up the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera. Despite its appearance, kelp is not a plant - it is a heterokont, a completely unrelated group of organisms. Kelp grows in "underwat ...

beds.

Description

The body of the white seabass is elongate, and somewhat compressed. The head is pointed and slightly compressed. The mouth is large, with a row of small teeth in the roof; the lower jaw slightly projects. The color is bluish to gray above, with dark speckling, becoming silver below. The young have several dark vertical bars. The white seabass is closely related to the

California corbina The California corbina (''Menticirrhus undulatus'') is marine demersal fish in the croaker family. It can often be found along sandy beaches and in shallow bays. This species travels in small groups along the surf zone in a few inches of water ...

, but is the only California member of the croaker family to exceed 20 pounds in weight. The largest recorded specimen was over 5 feet, 93.1 pounds. They are most easily separated from other croakers by the presence of a ridge running the length of the belly. C The diet of white seabass includes fishes, especially

anchovies An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water. More than 140 species are placed in 1 ...

and

sardine "Sardine" and "pilchard" are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring family Clupeidae. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century, a folk etymology says it comes from the Ital ...

s, and

squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting t ...

. At times, large fish are found which have eaten only

Pacific mackerel The blue mackerel (''Scomber australasicus''), also called Japanese mackerel, Pacific mackerel, slimy mackerel or spotted chub mackerel, is a fish of the family Scombridae, found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Pacific Ocean from Japa ...

. At the minimum legal length of 28 inches, the average white seabass is about 5 years of age, weighs about 7.5 pounds and has been sexually mature for at least one

spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquati ...

season.

Fishing

White seabass are fished primarily with live bait in relatively shallow water, but they will also take a fast-trolled spoon, artificial squid or bone jig. Live squid appear to be the best bait for a white seabass, but large anchovies and medium-size sardines are also good. At times, large white seabass will bite only on fairly large, live Pacific mackerel. The young of this species are exceptionally vulnerable to sport anglers for two reasons: The first is that as juveniles they inhabit shallow nearshore areas, bays, and

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

, and the second is that they are not easily recognized as white seabass by the average angler. Commonly, these young fish are mistakenly called "sea trout" because of their sleek profile and vertical bars or "parr marks". To add to the confusion, these bars fade as the fish grows. In California, there is a minimum 28 inch size limit and current fishing regulations should be checked concerning bag limits.

References

* Much of this article is copied fro
California Marine Sportfish
by the California Department of Fish and Game, Marine Region; a public domain resourc

* *World Record Information taken fro
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1748238.php

External links

*
Santa Barbara Sea
- A non-profit organization dedicated to restoring the White Seabass' population in the California Bight.
White Seabass Fishing Guide
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1188144 Sciaenidae Western North American coastal fauna Fish described in 1860