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Menticirrhus americanus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Southern kingcroaker
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Menticirrhus americanus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Menticirrhus americanus (Southern kingcroaker)
Menticirrhus americanus
Picture by Timm, C.D.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Eupercaria/misc (Various families in series Eupercaria) > Sciaenidae (Drums or croakers)
Etymology: Menticirrhus: Latin, mentum = beard, chin + Latin, cirrus = curly.
More on author: Linnaeus.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; demersal; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range ? - 40 m (Ref. 9626). Subtropical; 43°N - 42°S, 98°W - 34°W

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Atlantic: Cape Cod in Massachussets, USA to northern Argentina.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 17.7, range 16 - ? cm
Max length : 50.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9626); common length : 30.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3702); max. published weight: 1.1 kg (Ref. 40637)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 11; Dorsal soft rays (total): 22 - 25; Anal spines: 1; Anal soft rays: 7 - 8.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits coastal waters, usually over sandy-mud to hard sand bottoms. Common along beaches. Juveniles occur usually in water of lower salinity.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Chao, L.N., 1978. Sciaenidae. In W. Fischer (ed.) FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. West Atlantic (Fishing Area 31). Volume 4. FAO, Rome. (Ref. 3702)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 11 July 2023

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
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Ecology
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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | GoMexSI (interaction data) | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | OceanAdapt | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 14.8 - 27.9, mean 24.4 °C (based on 552 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5020   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00794 (0.00734 - 0.00860), b=3.08 (3.06 - 3.10), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.5   ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tm=2; tmax=4; Fec=28,691 (batch fecundity)).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (38 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 78.1 [44.9, 148.7] mg/100g; Iron = 0.951 [0.511, 1.649] mg/100g; Protein = 21.2 [19.2, 23.5] %; Omega3 = 0.326 [0.192, 0.520] g/100g; Selenium = 22 [12, 41] μg/100g; VitaminA = 11.7 [4.4, 35.5] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.867 [0.647, 1.267] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.