Three experiments were performed in singlepass, flow-through systems to determine the dietary phosphorus requirement of striped bass Morone saxatilis. In Experiment 1, three semi-purified diets were formulated to contain 0.20,0.40, or 0.60% total phosphorus (entirely from animal protein) and were fed to striped bass having an average initial weight of 321 g. After 14 wk of feeding, significant differences in bone and scale mineralization were found among treatment groups. At a level of 0.40% dietary phosphorus there was a significant improvement of serum calcium (Ca) and tissue mineralization. In Experiment 2, five diets were formulated with graded levels of monopotnssium phosphate to yield total phosphorus levels of 0.15 (no P supplementation), 0.35,0.55,0.75, and 0.95% and fed to juvenile striped bass initially weighing an average of 7.9 g. After 6 wk, significant improvement in scale and vertebral mineralization occurred when fish were fed diets containing at least 0.55% phosphorus. Improvements were observed in growth, serum phosphorus, incidence of scoliosis, survival, and feed efficiency when the diet contained at least 035% P. In Experiment 3, the dietary phosphorus levels fed were 0.30, 038, 0.46, 0.54, and 0.62% total phosphorus using graded levels of monopotassium phosphate. Diets were fed to striped bass fingerlings initially weighing an average of 48 g. After 10 wk, significant improvement in scale, vertebral, and dorsal fin mineralization was observed when dietary phosphorus was at least 0.46%. A summary of the broken-line regression analyses of the data from these experiments indicated that the average total dietary phosphorus level required for optimal growth and mineralization of striped bass was 0.58%. Phosphorus (P) is considered to be the most limiting nutrient for plant and algal growth in freshwater estuaries. When algae die, oxygen in the water is reduced due to degradative reactions associated with the resulting dry matter. This often results in severe oxygen depletion of the water. A level of 10-30 hg/L phosphate P has been reported for unpolluted lakes (U.S. EPA 1976). The latter is considerably below values observed in some intensive fish culture systems. The excessive P content of many com-
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