Robalo and Striped bass are different fish, but they're close enough in the kitchen to stand in for one another.
Centropomidae
Snook is a prized sportfish and eating fish found in warm coastal waters from Mexico through Central America and into Brazil. It has firm, white, mild flesh with excellent flavor. In Mexico it is called robalo and is one of the most sought-after fish for grilling and baking. It is versatile — suitable for garlic preparations, grilling whole, and in tacos.
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 firm, white, large-flaked coastal fish that hold up to whole roasting and grilling — snook is sweeter and more tropical, striped bass richer and more mineral.
| Country | Robalo | Striped bass |
|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸United States | Snook | Striped bass |
| 🇬🇧United Kingdom | Snook | Striped bass |
| 🇫🇷France | — | Bar rayé |
| 🇪🇸Spain | — | Lubina rayada |
| 🇦🇷Argentina | Robalo | — |
| 🇲🇽Mexico | Robalo | Lubina rayada |
| 🇧🇷Brazil | Robalo | — |
| 🇮🇹Italy | Robalo | Spigola striata |
| 🇩🇪Germany | Snook | Streifenbarsch |
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