Hybrid striped bass

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A hybrid striped bass or a wiper is a hybrid between the striped bass (Morone saxatilis) and the white bass (M. chrysops). It can be distinguished from the striped bass by broken rather than solid horizontal stripes on the body. Wipers are considered better suited for culture in ponds than either parent species because they are more resilient to extremes of temperature and to low dissolved oxygen.

Wipers became part of aquaculture in the United States in the late 1980s. Most producers purchase the fish young (as fry or fingerlings) and raise them in freshwater ponds. Currently about 10 million pounds (4.5 million kg) are produced annually in that country. Wipers are used both as a gamefish and a food fish.

Most wipers are produced by fertilizing eggs from white bass with sperm from striped bass; the resulting fish are also called sunshine bass or reciprocal cross hybrid striped bass.

[edit] References

• Hybrid Striped Bass. Southern Regional Aquaculture Center. Retrieved on 2006-07-27.