Main identification features
- elongatesnout overhangs horizontal mouth
- iridescent copper1-3 ocelli on top tail base
- chin - no barbel
- anal fin short
Red Drum
Body elongate (depth <1/4 standard length), lower profile nearly straight; snout overhangs small, horizontal mouth that ends under rear edge of eye; teeth simple, in bands on jaws; chin without barbells, with 5 pores; snout with 10 pores; gill rakers 12-14, short and stout; preopercle smooth in adult, but densely serrated in juvenile; dorsal fin continuous, but with deep notch between spines and rays XI, 23-25 ; anal fin with short base, II, 8-9, second spine ½ length of first ray; tail fin rhomboidal in juvenile, bluntly straight in adult; scales large and rough on body, smooth on head and breast, 1-2 rows of scales along base of dorsal fin; scales cover basal half of tail fin
Color: Iridescent coppery silver, 1 to several ocellated eye-sized spots under soft dorsal fin and onto tail base.
Reaches 160cm, 45kg weight
Habitat Sandy and muddy bottoms
Depth range 0-10 m
Native to the eastern US, and the Gulf of Mexico.
Introduced to Ecuador in 1974 for aquaculture purposes, escaped and still present there in the 1990s; its current status is not known.
Attributes
Cites: Not listed.
Climate Zone: Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo).
Depth Range Max: 10 m.
Depth Range Min: 0 m.
Diet: mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs); mobile benthic gastropods/bivalves; octopus/squid/cuttlefish; bony fishes.
Eastern Pacific Range: Northern limit=-3; Southern limit=-3; Western limit=-81; Eastern limit=-81; Latitudinal range=1; Longitudinal range=1.
Egg Type: Pelagic; Pelagic larva.
Feeding Group: Carnivore.
FishBase Habitat: Demersal.
Global Endemism: West Atlantic Introducee; TEP non-endemic; All species.
Habitat: Estuary; Beach; Sand & gravel; Mud; Mangrove; Soft bottom (mud, sand,gravel, beach, estuary & mangrove); Soft bottom only.
Inshore Offshore: Inshore; Inshore Only.
IUCN Red List: Not evaluated / Listed.
Length Max: 160 cm.
Regional Endemism: Eastern Pacific non-endemic; Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic; All species.
Residency: Resident.
Salinity: Marine; Brackish.
Water Column Position: Bottom;
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- Linnaeus, C., 1766., Systema naturae sive regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Laurentii Salvii, Holmiae. 12th ed., Systema Nat. ed. 12, 1:1-532.
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