Spotfin Croaker, Roncador steransi

Spotfin Croaker, Roncador stearnsi. Fish caught from coastal waters off San Diego, California, May 2015. Length 51 cm (20 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).

Spotfin Croaker, Roncador stearnsi. Fish caught off the Oceanside Pier, Oceanside California, May 2006. Length: 51 cm (20 inches). Weight: 1.8 kg (4 lbs 0 oz).

The Spotfin Croaker, Roncador steransi, is a member of the Croaker or Sciaenidae Family, and is known in Mexico as roncador manchadoa. Globally, there is only one species in the genus Roncador, this species which is found in Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean.

The Spotfin Croaker has a high, elongated body. They are a silvery color with blue-gray metallic above, brassy sides and a pale silvery belly. The sides have faint undulating lines that follow the scale rows. There is a large black blotch at the base of the pectoral fin for which they are named. They have black gill chambers. The head has a blunt overhanging snout with a recessed mouth on the underside. The snout has 10 pores and the chin has 5 pores. They do not have a chin barbell. The anal fin has 2 spines and 8 rays with the second spine being slender and approximately 75% of the first ray; their caudal fin is slightly concave; their first dorsal fin has 10 spines; and, their second dorsal fin has 1 spine and 24 to 28 rays. They have 24 to 28 gill rakers. They are covered with rough scales.

The Spotfin Croaker is a demersal species that is found in sandy bays and in the surf zone near rocks at depths up to 20 m (65 feet). They reach a maximum of 70 cm (2 feet 3 inches) in length. As of January 1, 2024, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 4.48 kg (9 lbs 14 oz) with the fish caught in coastal waters off Jesus Maria, Baja California in July 2012. The Spotfin 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 Spotfin Croaker is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean but has a limited distribution being found from Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, northward along the central and northwest coasts of Baja and there is a report that there is an isolation population living in the Guaymas area of Sonora along the coast of the mainland.

The Spotfin Croaker is very similar to a series of silvery croakers but they are the only one with a very large black blotch at the base of the pectoral fin.

From a conservation perspective the Spotfin Croaker is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are caught primarily on cut bait (clams, squid, mullet, mussels, etc.) with small hooks and bottom rigs. They are viewed by locals to be excellent table fare.