They are extremely easy to tell apart when they first come out of the water (much easier than some folks seem to think)...
Totos are uniformly bronze in color, with some white under the chin. They have small black spots randomly along their sides, and their tail is convex (shaped like a ping pong paddle)
White seabass have a purple cast above their lateral line, and are white/silver below the lateral line and on the belly. Whites don't have spots on their sides, but sometimes (not always) they will have dark vertical bars along their backs. Whites also have a concave tail (shaped like a shuffleboard que)
A white seabasses' lower jaw typically extends out past its upper jaw- on Totoaba, the upper jaw usually sticks out further than the lower.
A Totoaba's primary dorsal fin is also typically much more pronounced than a White Seabasses'
On fish that have been dead for awhile, the tail shape, and the little black dots on a Toto's flanks, are the 2 easiest things to look for.
So, after reading the above, take a good look at the pics below, and you guys tell me... Which is which...?
And YES- One of these fish was released back to the water, alive, and allowed to swim away (probably to eventually get caught in some local's gillnet), while the other one was grilled with garlic butter and lemon pepper