SUMMARYTo investigate whether mechanoreception is used in non-visual feeding in larval striped bass (Morone saxatilis), the ontogeny of superficial neuromasts along the lateral line was described using the vital stain FM1-43FX and fluorescent microscopy. The number of neuromasts visible along one flank increased from 11 at first feeding [5 to 7days post-hatch (dph)] to >150 by the juvenile stage (27dph). A neomycin dose response (0, 1, 2 and 5mmoll) was evaluated for neuromast ablation of bass aged 10, 13, 17 and 20dph. Using these same age groups, the ability of bass to catch Artemia salina prey in both dark and light tank-based feeding trials was compared between larvae with neuromasts ablated using neomycin (5mmoll) and controls. Neomycin significantly reduced the incidence of feeding in the light and dark. Among larvae that fed, those in the dark treated with neomycin caught fewer Artemia (~5preyh −1 ; P<0.05) than controls (16preyh −1 at 10dph; 72preyh −1 at 20dph). In the light, by contrast, neomycin treatment had no significant effect on prey capture by larvae age 13 to 20dph, but did inhibit feeding of 10dph larvae. Verification that neomycin was specifically ablating the hair cells of superficial neuromasts and not affecting either neuromast innervation, olfactory pits, or taste cells was achieved by a combination of staining with FM1-43FX and immunocytochemistry for tubulin and the calcium binding proteins, S100 and calretinin.