Gulf Croaker, Micropogonias megalops

Gulf Croaker, Micropogonias megalops. Fish caught from coastal waters off Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, June 2021. Length: 20 cm (7.9 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Chris Moore, Peoria, Arizona.

Gulf Croaker, Micropogonias megalops, Anal Fin. A key to a correct identification. Photograph courtesy of Chris Moore, Peoria, Arizona.

Gulf Croaker, Micropogonias megalops. Fish caught from coastal waters off Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, June 2021. Length: 33 cm (13 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Gulf Croaker, Micropogonias megalops. Fish caught 20 miles south of  Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, March 2023. Length: 33 cm (13 inches). Catch and photographs courtesy of Steve Wozniak, Alamo, California.

Gulf Croaker, Micropogonias megalops. Fish caught from coastal waters off Puertecitos, Baja California, July 2012. Length: 34 cm (14 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).

Gulf Croaker, Micropogonias megalops. Fish caught from a kayak within coastal waters of the northern Sea of Cortez off Baja California, April 2018. Length: 38 cm (15 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, San Diego, California.

The Gulf Croaker, Micropogonias megalops, is a member of the Croaker or Sciaenidae Family, that is also known as the Bigeye Croaker and in Mexico as berrugata, chano norteño and corvina ojo grande. Globally, there six global members of the genus Micropogonias of which three are found Mexican waters, all in the Pacific Ocean.

The Gulf Croaker has an elongated compressed fusiform body with an oval cross-section. They have a dusky silvery coloration with brown, oblique bars pointing backwards with yellow fins. Their head has a prominent snout, a large eye and a small mouth that is set under the snout that has thin lips and simple teeth. They do not have canine teeth; they have three minute barbels along the inside of the lower jaw. Their anal fin has 2 spines with the second being strong and three-fourths the length of the first ray and 7 or 8 rays; their caudal fin is S-shaped; their first dorsal fin has 10 spines; and, their second dorsal fin has 1 spine and 27 to 29 rays with a long base and is low. They have 23 to 27 gill rakers. They are covered with rough scales.

The Gulf Croaker is a benthopelagic species that is found in shallow lagoons, estuaries, river mouths and coastal waters at depths up to 30 m (100 feet). They reach a maximum of 40 cm (16 inches) in length. They feed on mobile benthic worms, crustaceans, gastropods, mussels and bony fishes. The Gulf 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 Gulf Croaker is a resident of the Pacific Ocean but has a limited distribution being found within the Sea of Cortez and along the coast of the mainland south to Acapulco.

The Gulf Croaker can be confused with a series of other Croakers found in the northern Sea of Cortez including the Gulf Corvina, Cynoscion othonopterus (23 to 27 second dorsal fin rays; no bars on the sides), the Sharpnose Corvina, Cynoscion phoxocephalus (short pectoral fins; 20 to 22 second dorsal fin rays), the Shortfin Corvina, Cynoscion parvipinnis (short pectoral fins; 7 and 8 first dorsal fin spines, 21 to 23 second dorsal fin rays), the Totoaba, Totoaba macdonaldi (lacks canine teeth, 7 to 8 anal fin rays) and the White Seabass, Atractoscion nobilis (lacks canine teeth; deep notch between the dorsal fins).

From a conservation perspective the Gulf Croaker is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations.