7921 ‎(2)‎

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7921
• Author: Trembly, T. L. and G. A. Gould.
• Title: Opportunities To Protect Instream Flows In Colorado And Wyoming.
• USFW Year: 1987.
• USFW - Doc Type: Biological Report 87‎(10)‎,
• Copyright Material: NO

(1975) reported that striped bass survived "successfully" after being stocked
in reservoirs where the annual range of temperature was 0 to 34° C (33 to
93° F), total hardness was 10 to 375 ppm, turbidity was 1.5 to 170 JTU, and
the pH was 5.5 to 9.1.
Age, Growth, and Food
Merriman (1941), using the scale analysis method, estimated that a 29.5 kg
(65 lb) striped bass was 29 to 31 years old. There are historic accounts of
striped bass weighing 30 to 57 kg (66 to 126 lb) (Smith 1907; Bigelow and
Welch 1925; Walford 1937; Merriman 1941).
Growth, food habits, and development rates of striped bass vary widely,
depending on environmental and other conditions (Setzler et al. 1980).
Mansueti (1958) gave a detailed account of the egg, larva, and young arti-
fically spawned and hatchery-reared in water 16.7 to 17.2° C (62 to 63° F).
Eggs hatched 36 to 48 hours after fertilization.
The duration of the larval stage ranges from about 23 days at 24° C
(75.2° F) to 68 days at 15° C (59.0° F) (Rogers et al. 1977). A range of 18
to 21° C (64.4 to 69.8° F) appears to be optimal for growth from hatching
through the yolk-sac stage.
The yolk-sac stage lasts 3 to 15 days (Mansueti 1958; Albrecht 1964;
Doroshev 1970; Eldridge et al. 1977; Rogers et al. 1977). Mansueti (1958)
reported that newly hatched larvae ranged from 1.9 to 3.7 mm TL; 10 to
15-day-old larvae were about 7.5 mm TL when the yolk-sac was fully absorbed.
Larvae generally form mouth parts at about 2 to 4 days of age or at
lengths of 4.5 to 5.2 mm TL (Mansueti 1958; Tatum et al. 1966; Doroshev 1970).
They begin feeding at about 5 to 8 days of age and 6 to 8 mm TL (Doroshev
1970; Humphries and Cumming 1973). Food availability during the first several
days of feeding is a critical factor influencing survival of larvae (Miller
1977; Setzler et al. 1980; Cooper and Polgar 1981; Eldridge et al. 1981).
Pond-reared striped bass up to 10 mm TL generally prefer nauplii of
copepods and cladocera (Sandoz and Johnston 1966; Humphries and Cumming 1972).
They shift to larger zooplankton and microinvertebrates (Humphries and Cumming
1972), mainly copepods supplemented by cladocera and insects (Harper et al.
1969; Harper and Jarman 1972), at 10 to 30 mm TL. In ponds with an abundance
of small forage fish, striped bass (at 30 to 60 mm TL) ate fewer copepods and
more cladocerans and insects (Harper et al. 1969). At 60 to 69 mm 7L, they
began feeding on forage fish, and, at 100 mm TL, forage fish become an
important food item.
Juveniles usually are opportunistic feeders (Merriman 1941; Morgan and
Gerlach 1950; Johnson and Calhoun 1952; Raney 1952; Heubach et al. 1963;
Stevens 1966; Hester-and Stevens 1970; Ware 1971; Manooch 1973; Boynton et al.
1981). Utilization of fish in the diet of young-of-the-year striped bass
probably depends on the availability of a suitable forage fish at the proper
time and location (Markle and Grant 1970). Young-of-the-year striped bass in
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