The body of the white sea bass is elongate, and somewhat compressed. The head is pointed and slightly compressed. The mouth is large, with a row of small teeth in the roof and the lower jaw slightly projects. The color is bluish to gray above, with dark speckling, becoming silver below. The young have several dark vertical bars. The white sea bass is closely related to the California corbina, but is the only California member of the croaker family to exceed 20 pounds in weight. They are most easily separated from other croakers by the presence of a ridge running the length of the belly. It has a black spot on the inner base of its pectoral fins.