Red Drum, Sciaenops ocellatus
Red Drum, Sciaenops ocellatus, Juvenile. Fish caught from coastal waters off Tampa, Florida, Florida, September 2012. Length: 9.2 (3.6 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ryan Crutchfield, Tampa, Florida.
Red Drum, Sciaenops ocellatus, Juvenile. Fish caught from coastal waters off Gulf Shores, Alabama, Alabama, September 2023. Length: 25 cm (10 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Red Drum, Sciaenops ocellatus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Tampa, Florida, Florida, September 2012. Length: 33 cm (13 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ryan Crutchfield, Tampa, Florida.
Red Drum, Sciaenops ocellatus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Tampa, Florida, Florida, July 2017. Length: 33 cm (13 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Red Drum, Sciaenops ocellatus. Fish caught from within the intercoastal waterway of Sebastian, Florida, November 2021. Length: 34 cm (13 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, Sebastian, Florida.
Red Drum, Sciaenops ocellatus. Fish caught from the Skidaway River, Savannah, Georgia, October 2009. Length: 38 cm (15 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Kenneth Tse, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Red Drum, Sciaenops ocellatus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Tampa, Florida, May 2013. Length 56 cm (22 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).
Red Drum, Sciaenops ocellatus. Fish caught from coastal waters off the Sanibel Island, Florida, February 2021. Length: 61 cm (2 feet 0 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Marc Eberlein, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The Red Drum, Sciaenops ocellatus, is a member of the Croaker or Sciaenidae Family, this is also known as the Redfish and in Mexico as corvineta ocelada. There is one global member of the genus Sciaenops, this species, that is found In Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
The Red Drum has an elongated body with a slightly arched back, a sloping head, and horizontal lower profile. They vary in color from black, copper, or silver dorsally, and transition to silvery-white ventrally. They have a distinguishing large black spot on the upper part of the tail base. Note that some fish can have more than one spot. Their head has an overhanging blunt snout and a large horizontal sub-terminal mouth that has simple teeth set in bands. The chin lacks barbels but has 5 pores. Their anal fin has 2 spines, the second of which is slender and half the length of the first ray, and 8 or 9 rays with a short base; their caudal fin has an angular point in juveniles and is straight in adults; their first dorsal fin has 9 spines; their second dorsal fin has 23 to 25 rays. They have 12 to 14 stout gill rakers. They are covered with rough scales. Their lateral line extends to the end of the caudal fin.
The Red Drum varies in distribution based on age. Juvenile fish that are up to three years in age are found near shore in bays and estuaries, within oyster beds, river bottoms, sea grass beds, and in the surf zone near passes at depths up to 27 m (90 feet). With maturity they move to deeper waters on the continental shelf within the Gulf of Mexico. They can be found as either solitary individuals or in schools. They are known to make daily migrations moving from deeper waters to shallower waters at sunrise for feeding. They also travel in seasonal migrations for warmer waters. They prefer water temperatures between 4oC (39oF) and 34oC (93oF). They can also tolerate a wide variety of salinities and have been found many miles upriver. They reach a maximum of 1.60 m (5 feet 3 inches) in length and 45 kg (99 lbs) in weight. As of January 1, 2024, the International Game Fish Association world record for length stood at 1.27 m (4 feet 2 inches) with the fish caught from coastal waters off Virginia in June 2021. The corresponding world record for weight stood at 42.7 kg (94 lbs 2 oz) with the fish caught in coastal waters off North Carolina in November 1984. They are aggressive opportunistic ambush predators. The juveniles consume small crabs, detritus, shrimp, marine worms and zooplankton and with maturity they add fish to their diets. In shallow waters they are known for “tailing”, feeding with their head down and their tail exposed to the air. In turn they are preyed upon by birds, larger fish, humans and turtles. They have the ability to make drum-like sounds as a mating call and to communicate with each other. Reproduction occurs in specific locations in spawning aggregations, in shallow water estuaries. Reproduction is dioecious with separate sexes and oviparous with external fertilization. The females are broadcast spawners each producing between 500,000 and 2,000,000 eggs which are left to fend for themselves. Each female will spawn at two to four day intervals and will produce between 20,000,000 and 40,000,000 eggs annually. Eggs hatch within 30 hours and the larvae are pelagic, carried by tidal currents into bays. They have life spans of up to sixty years.
The Red Drum is most likely confused with the Black Drum, Pogonias cromis (has several chin barbels).
The Red Drum is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic but is limited to the Gulf of Mexico ranging from the Texas boarder to Tuxpan, Veracruz.
From a conservation perspective the Red Drum is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are prone to large die-offs during red tide episodes and to in shore habitat destruction due to human development. The Red Drum is a very popular recreational game fish. They can be caught from jetties, oil rigs, piers, pilings and by surf anglers as-well-as flyfishermen. They are also of interest to commercial fishermen, but on a limited basis. In the United States they are banned for commercial fishing as historically they were fished to near extinction. For recreational fishing they are heavily regulated in United States waters and unregulated in Mexican waters. They are raised by aquaculture for human consumption. They can also be found in public aquariums.