Invasion
Invasion Description
None
Geographic Extent
Native Range- LA-FL/Gulf of Mexico and inflowing rivers (Suwanee River to Lake Ponchartrain) (Robins et al. 1986; Page and Burr 1991); FL/Appalachicola River (native spawning stock has been augmented by introduced Atlantic Coast fishes, Wirgin et al. 1997).
Introduced Range- LA/Missiissippi River (1989, Atlantic genotype, probabably stocked in 1960s-70s, Wirgin et al;. 1997); TX/Sabine estuary (1977, USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Programs 2009, Atlantic genotype, probabably stocked in 1960s-70s, Wirgin et al. 1997); TX/Galveston Bay (1977, USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program 2009, Atlantic genotype, probabably stocked in 1960s-70s, Wirgin et al. 1997); TX/Central Matagorda Bay (1989, Center for Aquatic Resource Studies 2009, Atlantic genotype, probabably stocked in 1960s-70s, Wirgin et al. 1997); TX/San Antonio Bay (1975, Center for Aquatic Resource Studies 2009, Atlantic genotype, probably stocked in 1960s-70s, Wirgin et al. 1997); TX/Corpus Christi Bay (1977,USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program 2009, Atlantic genotype, probabably stocked in 1960s-70s, Wirgin et al. 1997) Western Gulf Striped Bass are probably dispersed from stocked populations in reservoirs. However, this fish was reported as abundant on the Texas coast before 1926 (Fuller et al. 1999). Native Gulf M. saxatilis show morphological, genetic, and behavioral differences (more riverine in habitat preference) ftom the Atlantic Coast form. The only remaining mostly native population appears to be in the Appalachicloa River, Florida (Wirgin et al. 1997; wirgin et al. 2005).
Vectors
| Level | Vector |
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Regional Impacts
| Ecological Impact | Hybridization | |
| Hybridization- Estuaries of the Gulf of Mexico, from the Florida Panhandle to Louisiana (and possibly Texas) supported a genetically distinct native stock of Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis), with a distinct riverine-estuarine life history, in which the fish depended on cool springs and streams to survive high summer temperatures. Almost all this stock was extirpated in the 1950s, and replaced with Striped Bass from Atlantic stocks. One remnant population occurs in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) river system in Florida. Striped Bass from Atlantic stocks, from the Santee-Cooper river system, South Carolina, were stocked in the ACF rivers from 1965 to 1976. The native stock continues to reproduce in the river system, but in spite extensive introgression with Atlantic fish. Hatchery rearing of ACF fish is recommended for restocking of Gulf estuaries (Wirgin et al. 2005). | ||