What is Striped bass called in Spain?

In Spain, Striped bass is known as Lubina rayada.

What is Striped bass called in Mexico?

In Mexico, Striped bass is known as Lubina rayada.

What is Striped bass called in France?

In France, Striped bass is known as Bar rayé.

What is Striped bass called in Italy?

In Italy, Striped bass is known as Spigola striata.

What is Striped bass called in Germany?

In Germany, Striped bass is known as Streifenbarsch.

What family does Striped bass belong to?

Striped bass is a Moronidae fish.

Striped bass

Fish · Moronidae

Striped bass (Morone saxatilis). Timothy Knepp, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Also called

🇲🇽🇪🇸Lubina rayada🇫🇷Bar rayé🇮🇹Spigola striata🇩🇪Streifenbarsch

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.

Names by country

Country	Name	Notes
🇺🇸United States	Striped bassprimary	Called rockfish or rock throughout the Chesapeake and Mid-Atlantic — a different fish from Pacific rockfish (Sebastes)
🇬🇧United Kingdom	Striped bass	Imported or farmed; not a British coastal fish
🇲🇽Mexico	Lubina rayada	Fished and farmed along the Baja California coast
🇫🇷France	Bar rayé	Standard in France and Québec, where the Saint Lawrence population was reintroduced
🇪🇸Spain	Lubina rayada	Distinct from plain lubina, which in Spain is the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax)
🇮🇹Italy	Spigola striata
🇩🇪Germany	Streifenbarsch

Culinary substitutes

Loup de mer

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.

Robalo

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.

Rockfish

These share a market name and nothing else. "Rockfish" means Pacific Sebastes on the West Coast and striped bass in the Chesapeake — one is a small-flaked lean fish from cold Pacific reefs, the other a large-flaked anadromous Atlantic fish. Read the coast, not the label.

Often confused with

Striped bass vs Loup de mer Striped bass vs Robalo Striped bass vs Rockfish

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