Micropogonias undulatus, Atlantic croaker : fisheries, aquaculture, gamefish

Micropogonias undulatus (Linnaeus, 1766)

Atlantic croaker
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Micropogonias undulatus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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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: Micropogonias: Greek, mikros = small + greek, pogon = beard (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Linnaeus.

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

Marine; brackish; demersal; depth range ? - 100 m. Subtropical; 43°N - 37°S

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

Western Atlantic: Massachusetts, USA (excluding Florida) and northern Gulf of Mexico to northern Mexico. Possibly from southern Brazil to Argentina. Uncertain in southern Gulf of Mexico, Lesser Antilles and southern Caribbean (Ref. 26938).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 18 - ? cm
Max length : 55.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); common length : 30.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3702); max. published weight: 2.6 kg (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 5 years (Ref. 12193)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics


Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults occur usually over mud and sandy mud bottoms in coastal waters and in estuaries where the nursery and feeding grounds are located. They feed mainly on worms, crustaceans and fishes. An excellent foodfish. Sold fresh and frozen; eaten fried, broiled, microwaved and baked (Ref. 9988).

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray, 1986. A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p. (Ref. 7251)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2 (Global))

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 23 January 2020

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

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

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Territories
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genome
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Genetic Diversity
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Identification keys | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings search; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | GoMexSI (interaction data) | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | OceanAdapt | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index
(Ref. 82804) 		PD50 = 0.5156 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight a=0.00871 (0.00797 - 0.00952), b=3.08 (3.05 - 3.11), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level
(Ref. 69278) 		4.0   ±0.50 se; based on food items.
Resilience
(Ref. 120179) 		Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.2-0.27; tm=1-2; tmax=8).
Fishing Vulnerability
(Ref. 59153) 		Moderate vulnerability (38 of 100). 🛈
Climate Vulnerability
(Ref. 125649) 		High to very high vulnerability (66 of 100). 🛈
Price category
(Ref. 80766) 		Low.
Nutrients
(Ref. 124155) 		Calcium = 74.3 [40.8, 145.2] mg/100g; Iron = 1.07 [0.56, 1.87] mg/100g; Protein = 20.1 [18.4, 21.7] %; Omega3 = 0.303 [0.149, 0.596] g/100g; Selenium = 26.2 [13.9, 50.6] μg/100g; VitaminA = 16.4 [5.7, 55.5] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.688 [0.492, 1.006] mg/100g (wet weight);