Yellowfin Croaker, Umbrina roncodor
Yellowfin Croaker, Umbrina roncador. Fish caught from coastal waters off San Diego, California, September 2013. Length: 28 cm (11 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).
Yellowfin Croaker, Umbrina roncador. Fish caught within Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, May 2019. Length: 31 cm (12 inches).
Yellowfin Croaker, Umbrina roncador. Fish caught within Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, May 2017. Length: 32 cm (13 inches).
Yellowfin Croaker, Umbrina roncador. Fish caught off the beach at Km 21, Cabo Real, Baja California Sur, July 2008. Length: 35 cm (14 inches).
Yellowfin Croaker, Umbrina roncador. Fish caught in coastal waters off Bahía Santa Rosalillita, Baja California, August 2019. Catch and photograph courtesy of Barry Mastro, Escondido, California.
The Yellowfin Croaker, Umbrina roncador, is a member of the Croaker or Sciaenidae Family, that is also known as the Yellowfin Drum and in Mexico as berrugata aleta amarilla. Globally, there are eighteen species in the genus Umbrina, of which seven are found in Mexican waters, one in the Atlantic and six in the Pacific Ocean.
The Yellowfin Croaker has an oblong slightly compressed body with a horizontal lower profile. They have a uniform silvery coloration with a series of oblique undulating brown or olive brown lines following the scale rows. The lining of their gut cavity is dark. Their fins are yellow. They have high arched backs. Their head is broad, conical, and low with a short projecting snout that opens in the front. Their gill covers are finely serrated and their chin has 1 thick rigid barbel. They have 1 pore at the tip of the chin and 2 pairs of pores at its base. Their anal fin has a short base with 2 spines and 7 rays with the second spine being stout and greater than half the length of the first ray; their caudal fin has a straight or slightly concave margin; their first dorsal fin has 10 spines, a notch, and the second dorsal fin has a long base and 1 spine and 24 to 30 rays; and, their pectoral fins are short. They have 15 to 22 gill rakers. They are covered with rough scales.
The Yellowfin Croaker is found demersal over sandy bottoms along the shore, in the surf zone, and in inshore bays at depths up to 46 m (150 feet). They reach a maximum of 56 cm (22 inches) in length. As of January 1, 2024, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 2.49 kg (5 lbs 8 oz) with the fish caught in coastal waters off Las Barilles, Baja California Sur, in May 2001. The Yellowfin Croaker is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Yellowfin Croaker is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean but has a limited distribution being found only along the entire west coast of Baja and throughout the Sea of Cortez; they are absent from along the coast of the mainland south to Guatemala.
Note: a croaker with yellow fins is not necessarily a Yellowfin Croaker! The Yellowfin Croaker is easily confused with the Cortez Croaker, Umbrina wintersteeni (anal fin with 6 rays; dusky pectoral fins, dark gill chamber) and the Surf Croaker, Umbrina xanti (ventral lines are straight; anal fin with 6 rays; second anal spine three-fourths the length of first anal ray).
From a conservation perspective the Yellowfin Croaker is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. In the United States they are high regulated and banned from commercial sale. They are caught by recreational anglers out of the surf on cut bait (clams, mullet, squid, etc.) with small hooks and bottom rigs. They are viewed as excellent table fare.