Panama Kingfish, Menticirrhus panamensis

Panama Kingfish, Menticirrhus panamensis. Fish provided by the commercial fishermen of the greater Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos area, Baja California Sur, May 2018. Length: 24.2 cm (9.2 inches).

Panama Kingfish, Menticirrhus panamensis. Fish caught from the Devil’s Bend area within Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, October 2018. Length: 30 cm (12 inches). A total of ten fish were caught in a single stop, six were approximately 30 cm (12 inches) in length and when they came out of the water had a yellowish bronze tint and lighter colored fins, four were approximately 37 cm (15 inches) in length and had a silvery appearance with darker colored fins.

Panama Kingfish, Menticirrhus panamensis. Fish caught from the Devil’s Bend area within Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, October 2018. Length: 37 cm (15 inches). A total of 10 fish were caught in a single stop, 6 were approximately 30 cm (12 inches) in length and when they came out of the water had a yellowish bronze tint and lighter colored fins, 4 were approximately 37 cm (15 inches) in length and had a silvery appearance with darker colored fins.

Panama Kingfish, Menticirrhus panamensis. Fish caught from within Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, March 2018. Length: 39 cm (16 inches).  Note the extraordinary length of the snout, 25% of head length versus the fish pictured immediately above (19%).

The Panama Kingfish, Menticirrhus panamensis, is a member of the Croaker or Sciaenidae Family, and is known in Mexico as berrago panameño. Globally, there are nine species in the genus Menticirrhus, of which eight are found in Mexican waters, three in the Atlantic and five in the Pacific Ocean.

The Panama Kingfish has an elongated compressed body with a flat belly and a rounded cross-section. They have an overall silvery gray-brown coloration with a brownish head, dusky fins (except for the pectoral fins which are jet black and provide a key to identification), and whitish pelvic fins. The lower lobe of their caudal fin has a black tinge. Their head is long with small eyes and a low conical snout that projects beyond the horizontal mouth. They have a short thick barbel on their snouts Their anal fin has 1 weak spine and 8 or 9 rays and their caudal fin is “S”-shaped; they have 2 separated dorsal fins, the first with 9 or 10 spines and the second with 1 spine and 18 to 22 rays; their pectoral fins are long and reach past the end of their pelvic fins. They have a prominent lateral line that extends into the posterior edge of their caudal fin. They have 3 to 8 short gill rakers and are covered with rough scales.

The Panama Kingfish is a demersal species that is found over sandy bottoms along the shore and in the surf zone and inshore bays at depths up to 107 m (350 feet). They reach a maximum of 70 cm (2 feet 6 inches) in length. They consume sand crabs, small fish, and invertebrates. The Panama Kingfish 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 Panama Kingfish is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Pacific with the exception that they are absent from Guerrero Negro, Baja California, northward along the central and northwest coasts of Baja and from the east coast of the Baja of the Sea of Cortez.

The Panama Kingfish is not straightforward to identify and can easily be confused with the California Corbina, Menticirrhus undulatus (short first dorsal fin; mid-sized pectoral fins; 9 to 15 gill rakers), the Highfin Kingfish, Menticirrhus nasus (large eyes; elongated dorsal fin; large fan-like pectoral fins), the Paita Kingfish, Menticirrhus paitensis (dusky fins), and the Slender Kingfish, Menticirrhus elongatus (pale yellow fins).

From a conservation perspective the Panama Kingfish is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They can be caught off the beach on rare occasions with bottom rigs baited with soft shelled sand crabs. They are also caught by commercial fishermen with gill nets. They are considered to be excellent table fare.