Croakers
croakers_g308
Black Drum
Pogonias cromis
About
The black drum is a heavy-bodied fish that can grow past a metre and a half, though most divers meet smaller ones. It gets its name from the deep drumming sound it makes, produced by muscles on its swim bladder.
Also known as: oyster drum, drumfish, big drum, gray drum, sea drum, oyster cracker
- Length
- 50 cm · max 1.7 m
- Weight
- max 51 kg
How to tell it apart
Barred juveniles look like sheepshead, but the chin barbels settle it: black drum have them, sheepshead do not.
Appearance
Adults are silvery grey to almost black, with dark pelvic and anal fins. Young fish show four or five bold black bars across a pale body, fading to plain grey as they grow. A cluster of short barbels, whisker-like feelers, hangs under the chin.
Diet
Black drum feed mainly on the bottom, crushing mollusks and crabs with strong, rounded teeth. Their chin barbels feel out food buried in sand or mud. In shallow water they sometimes feed head-down, with the tail breaking the surface.
Breeding
Black drum reach maturity by the end of their second year and spawn in and around estuaries, the mixed salt-and-freshwater zones where rivers meet the sea.
Did you know?
Black drum make deep drumming calls between 100 and 500 Hz, produced with their swim bladder, when they gather to breed.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
