Surf Croaker, Umbrina xanti

Surf Croaker, Umbrina xanti, Juvenile. Fish provided by the commercial bait salesmen of Puerto Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, December 2020.  Length: 13.5 cm (5.3 inches). Note that the fish lacks coloration which I attribute as aide to avoid their predation. Also provided is a view of inside the gill cover with the noteworthy black operculum, a key to identification.

Surf Croaker, Umbrina xanti. Fish caught from the beach at Km 21, Cabo Real, Baja California Sur, November 2017. Length: 23 cm (9.1 inches).

Surf Croaker, Umbrina xanti.  Fish caught from shore off Roca de Ian, Bahia de Los Muertos, Baja California Sur, January 2020. Length: 25 cm (10 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Brad Murakami, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.

Surf Croaker, Umbrina xanti. Fish caught from coastal water off Mazatlán, Sinaloa, October 2017. Length: 29 cm (11 inches). Catch and photograph courtesy of Josh Leisen (joshadventures.com), Gaylord, Michigan.

Surf Croaker, Umbrina xanti. Fish caught from the beach at Km 21, Cabo Real, Baja California Sur, July 2012. Length: 31 cm (12 inches).

Surf Croaker, Umbrina xanti.  Anal Fin Close-up.  The counts appear to be two spines and seven rays indicative that this is a Cortez Croaker, Umbrina wintersteeni, however based on productive discussions with H.J. Walker, Jr., Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the last two rays are actually one ray that is branched and attached to the same bone changing the identification to the Surf Croaker.

Surf Croaker, Umbrina xanti. Fish caught from coastal waters off Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, March 2012. Length: 20 cm (7.9 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).

The Surf Croaker, Umbrina xanti, is a member of the Croaker or Sciaenidae Family, and is known in Mexico as berrugata roncadora. 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 Surf Croaker has an oblong slightly compressed body with a horizontal lower body profile. They have a uniform silvery coloration with a yellow tinge and a series of oblique undulating brown or olive brown lines following the scales rows. The inner lining of their gill cavity is jet black. Their fins are yellow. They have high arched backs and their head is broad, conical, and low with a short projecting snout that opens in the front. Their gill covers are finely serrated. Their chin has 1 thick rigid barbel with a pore at its tip and 2 pairs of pores at its base. Their anal fin has a short base with 2 spines and 6 rays with the second spine being stout and three-fourths the length of the first ray; their caudal fin has a straight or slightly concave margin; their first dorsal fin has 10 spines; their second dorsal fin 1 spine and 26 to 30 rays and a long base; and, their pectoral fins are short. They have 16 to 21 gill rakers. They are covered with rough scales.

The Surf Croaker is a demersal species that is found over sandy bottoms along the shore, in the surf zone, and in inshore bays at depths up to 107 m (350 feet). They reach a maximum of 46 cm (18 inches) in length. As of January 1, 2024, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 0.65 kg (1 lb 7 oz) with the fish caught from coastal waters off Costa Rica in March 2019. The Surf 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 Surf Croaker is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Pacific with the exception that they are absent from Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, northward along the central and northwest coasts of Baja.

The Surf Croaker is easily confused with the Cortez Croaker, Umbrina wintersteeni (caudal fin straight to rounded, pale gill chamber) and the Yellowfin Croaker, Umbrina roncador (oblique lower lines on body; anal fin with seven rays; second anal spine half length of first anal ray; yellow pectoral fins).

From a conservation perspective the Surf Croaker is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are caught recreational anglers on cut bait (clams, squid, mullet, etc.) with small hooks and bottom rigs. They are also caught in gill nets by artisanal fishermen. They are viewed by locals as excellent table fare.