250 UNDERWATER GUIDE TO MARINE LIFE 



noses of typical croakers. The habits of all are very similar. Small groups or 

 schools swim over sandy or muddy to hard bottoms, especially in the surf, 

 where they feed mainly on small invertebrates. They breed in bays and inlets, 

 usually in early winter. 



ATLANTIC CROAKER (hardhead, corbina) : Micropogofi ufidulatus 



Size: Averages 1 foot. Up to 30 inches. 



Weight: Averages I pound. Large at 6 pounds. Up to 8 to 10 pounds. 



Distribution: Massachusetts to Texas. Very common south of the Chesapeake. 



Identification: There are very small barbels on the lower jaw. Color is brassy, 

 becoming white below. There are large numbers of small dark spots on the sides 

 and back. The flesh is tinged, not unpleasantly, with the flavor of iodine. 



Similar Sf)ecies: The spot, Leiostomus xanthurus, has a stouter body shape 

 and no chin barbels. The name is derived from the black, round spot just above 

 the pectoral fin. About fifteen wavy dark bars extend up and back from the 

 lateral line. It ranges from Cape Cod to Texas. 



YELLOW-FIN CROAKER: Umhrina roncador 



Size: Up to IVi feet. 



Weight: Up to 5 pounds. 



Distribution: San Francisco to the Gulf of California. 



Identification: This fish is a very metallic brassy color to steel-blue or green 

 above. There are wavy lines on the sides extending up and back above the lateral 

 line and horizontally below. The dorsal fins are dark. Other fins are yellow. 

 The shape is like that of the Atlantic croaker. 



Similar Species: The California kingfish, Genyonenms lineatus, is a silvery 

 to brassy color and has small barbels on the chin. There is a black spot at the 

 pectoral fin base. It reaches a weight of a little over a pound and is found from 

 Vancouver to central Baja California. 



The spotfin croaker, Roncador stearnsi, is a brassy to steel-gray color and has 

 a dark spot at the pectoral fin base. It averages 5 to 6 pounds and reaches 12 

 pounds. It ranges from Point Conception to Baja California. 



The black croaker, Sciaena saturna, is blackish with coppery tints. It has a 

 light band from the dorsal fin to the belly, which is especially apparent in fish 

 which have been in subdued light. It reaches 15 inches and is found from Santa 

 Barbara to the Gulf of California. 



NORTHERN KING WHITING (kingfish) : Menticirrhns saxatilis 



Size: Up to IV2 feet. 



Weight: Averages 1 to IV2 pounds. Up to 3 pounds. 



Distribution: Maine to Florida. Common from Long Island to Virginia. 



Identification: Members of this genus have a rounded, very projecting snout, 

 a single stout barbel on the chin, an S-shaped tail, and an anteriorly high spiny 

 dorsal fin. Kingfishes have no swim bladder. This species is irregularly blotched. 



Habits: The whiting schools over sandy bottoms in shallow water. It feeds 

 mainly on crustaceans and molluscs but will take small fishes. It migrates north 

 and inshore for the warm months. As befits the lack of swim bladder, it often 

 lies on the bottom. 



