Red drum, continued 



Within Study Area : Within U.S. Gulf of Mexico estuar- 

 ies, the red drum occurs from the Rio Grande, Texas, 

 to Florida Bay, Florida (Table 5.39) (Welsh and Breder 

 1 924, Simmons and Breuer 1 962, Yokel 1 966, Boothby 

 and Avault 1971, Hoese and Moore 1977, Matlock 

 1980, Ward and Armstrong 1980, Holt et al. 1983, 

 Overstreet 1983, NOAA 1985, Matlock 1987). The 

 species is most abundant in waters of Texas and 

 Louisiana (Ward and Armstrong 1980). It is also 

 abundant in Mississippi, but this may be due to the 

 benefits of the extensive estuaries present in nearby 

 Louisiana (Yokel 1966). 



Life Mode 



Red drum are estuarine-dependent. Eggs, larvae, and 

 early juveniles are planktonic and pelagic (Breuer 

 1 957, Ward and Armstrong 1 980, Peters and McMichael 

 1987). Juveniles and adults are pelagic and nektonic 

 (Gunter 1945, Breuer 1957, Ward and Armstrong 

 1980, Holt et al. 1981a, Osburn et al. 1982, Benson 

 1982, Peters and McMichael 1987). Juveniles are 

 often found in schools, but adults are largely solitary 

 when living in shallow water (Pearson 1928, Breuer 

 1 957, Simmons and Breuer 1 962, Christmas and Waller 

 1973, Adkins et al. 1979, Benson 1982, Osburn et al. 

 1982, Overstreet 1983, Peters and McMichael 1987). 

 Some schools in the Gulf of Mexico are associated with 

 schools of black drum, tarpon, blue runner, little tunny 

 (Euthynnusalletteratus), and Florida pompano, at least 

 when near shore, although the red drum does not 

 randomly mix with schools of other species. Large 

 schools can contain 150,000 to 200,000 individuals 

 and first appear about April and disappear offshore 

 from September to October. Schools are often more 

 dispersed during summer than in spring or autumn 

 (Perretetal. 1980, Overstreet 1983). Activity seems to 

 be equally divided between night and day (Zimmerman 

 1969, Benson 1982, Minello and Zimmerman 1983, 

 Peters and McMichael 1987). 



Habitat 



Type: 



Eggs: Eggs are spawned in nearshore and inshore 

 waters close to barrier island passes and channels. 

 After hatching, larvae and post-larvae are carried by 

 tidal currents into the shallow inside waters of bays and 

 estuaries (Pearson 1 928, Yokel 1 966, Heffernan 1 973, 

 Holt etal. 1981a, Benson 1982, Peters and McMichael 

 1 987, Johnson and Funicelli 1 991 ). Eggs from hatch- 

 ery spawns develop best in polyhaline to euhaline 

 waters (Arnold et al. 1979, Holt et al. 1983). 



Larvae: Larvae move through the passes and tend to 

 seek shallow, slack water along the sides of the chan- 

 nels to avoid being carried offshore during periods of 

 ebbtide (King 1971). As larvae enter estuarine waters, 

 they seek grassy quiet coves, tidal flats, and lagoons 



where the vegetation protects them from predators and 

 currents, and where they can avoid rough waters until 

 they are strong enough to swim actively (Pearson 

 1928, Simmons and Breuer 1962, Yokel 1966, Perret 

 et al. 1 980, Ward and Armstrong 1 980, Holt et al. 1 983, 

 Overstreet 1 983). Early larvae are found in mesohaline 

 to euhaline waters, and older larvae and post larvae 

 are euryhaline (Yokel 1966, Perret et al. 1980, Ward 

 and Armstrong 1980, Crocker et al. 1981, Holt et al. 

 1 981 a, Overstreet 1 983, Vetter et al. 1 983, Peters and 

 McMichael 1987). 



Juveniles: Juveniles are euryhaline (Gunter 1942, 

 Gunter 1956, Simmons 1957, Simmons and Breuer 

 1962, Yokel 1966, Perret et al. 1980, Crocker et al. 

 1981, Holt et al. 1981a, Benson 1982, Crocker et al. 

 1983, Daniels and Robinson 1986, Peters and 

 McMichael 1 987). They are found in a wide variety of 

 habitats perhaps due to their movements from bay 

 shores to quiet backwater areas as they grow and 

 begin to disperse through the bay (Peters and 

 McMichael 1987). They prefer shallow, protected, 

 open waters of estuaries, coves, and secondary bays 

 with depths up to 3.05 m, but may also be found near 

 the mouths of tidal passes. Juveniles have also been 

 reported from shallow shorelines, tidal pools, marsh 

 habitats, depressions in marshy areas, boat basins, 

 bayous, flats, channels, reefs, back bays, around is- 

 lands, in rivers and neartheir mouths, and occasionally 

 the surf along the Gulf of Mexico in the spring following 

 hatching. Older juveniles tend to move into slightly 

 deeper, more open waters and into primary bays 

 (Pearson 1928, Reid 1955, Simmons 1957, Breuer 

 1957, Simmons and Breuer 1962, Yokel 1966, 

 Zimmerman 1 969, Swingle 1 971 , Christmas and Waller 

 1973, Perret et al. 1980, Ward and Armstrong 1980, 

 Crocker et al. 1981, Holt et al. 1981a, Pafford 1981, 

 Benson 1982, Osburn et al. 1982, Overstreet 1983, 

 Peterson 1986, Loftus and Kushlan 1987, Peters and 

 McMichael 1987, Van Hoose 1987). 



Adults: Adults are also euryhaline (Gunter 1 942, Gunter 

 1956, Simmons and Breuer 1962, Holt et al. 1981a, 

 Crockeret al. 1 981 , Benson 1 982, Daniels and Robinson 

 1986). They are occasionally found in shallow bays, 

 but tend to spend more time in marine habitats after 

 their first spawning. They are typically found in the Gulf 

 of Mexico in littoral and shallow nearshore waters off 

 beaches (Perret et al. 1980, Ward and Armstrong 

 1980, Pafford 1981, Benson 1982, Overstreet 1983, 

 Ross et al. 1983). Adults are often caught in more 

 offshore waters as far as 25 km from shore in depths up 

 to 40 m, and are commonly reported from depths of 40 

 to 70 m. They are occasionally caught on Gulf reefs 

 (Lux 1969, Heffernan 1973, Benson 1982, Overstreet 

 1983, Ross etal. 1983). 



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