Loup de mer and Striped bass are different fish, but they're close enough in the kitchen to stand in for one another.
Moronidae
European sea bass is one of the great naming confusion fish — the same farmed species is called loup de mer in France, lubina in Spain, branzino in Italy, and robalo in Portugal and Brazil. It has delicate white flesh, few bones, and a clean mild flavor. Farmed extensively in the Mediterranean, it is most commonly cooked whole — roasted in salt crust, grilled over open flame, or baked with herbs.
Full guide →Moronidae
Striped bass is the great fish of the US Atlantic seaboard — anadromous, running from the ocean into the Chesapeake and Hudson to spawn — and throughout Maryland and Virginia it is called simply rockfish, or rock. That local name is the source of a persistent mix-up: it is not the Pacific rockfish of the genus Sebastes, which is an unrelated fish from the opposite coast. The flesh is white, firm and large-flaked, richer and more assertive than cod, and it is at its best cooked whole, roasted on the bone, or seared skin-on so the skin crisps. Nearly all striped bass in the market is farmed hybrid bass, a cross with white bass, sold at plate size; wild striped bass is tightly regulated and largely a sport fishery. It belongs to Moronidae, which makes it a close relative — but not the equivalent — of the European sea bass sold as lubina, loup de mer or branzino. Spanish speakers looking for this fish want lubina rayada, and should be aware that an unqualified "lubina" in Spain means the European fish instead.
Full guide →Both are Moronidae with firm white flesh, ideal roasted whole or seared skin-on, and they are the closest true equivalents across the Atlantic — but they are different species. Striped bass runs larger and tastes fuller; European sea bass is more delicate and usually sold at plate size.
| Country | Loup de mer | Striped bass |
|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸United States | Sea bass | Striped bass |
| 🇬🇧United Kingdom | Sea bass | Striped bass |
| 🇫🇷France | Loup de mer | Bar rayé |
| 🇪🇸Spain | Lubina | Lubina rayada |
| 🇦🇷Argentina | Pejerrey de mar | — |
| 🇲🇽Mexico | Robalo | Lubina rayada |
| 🇵🇹Portugal | Robalo | — |
| 🇧🇷Brazil | Robalo | — |
| 🇮🇹Italy | Branzino | Spigola striata |
| 🇩🇪Germany | Wolfsbarsch | Streifenbarsch |
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