Menticirrhus littoralis, Gulf kingcroaker : fisheries, gamefish

Menticirrhus littoralis (Holbrook, 1847)

Gulf kingcroaker
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Menticirrhus littoralis   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Menticirrhus littoralis (Gulf kingcroaker)
Menticirrhus littoralis
Picture by NOAA\NMFS\Mississippi Laboratory

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.

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

Marine; brackish; demersal; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 10 - ? m. Subtropical; 38°N - 33°S

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

Western Atlantic: Virginia, USA and the continental coast of the Gulf of Mexico to Rio Grande del Sur, Brazil.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 23.0, range 20 - ? cm
Max length : 48.3 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); common length : 30.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3702); max. published weight: 1.4 kg (Ref. 40637)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Grayish brown above, shading to silvery below, no prominent bars. Lower jaw has single, stout, peg-like barbel with pore at tip. Scales on belly smaller than those on side (Ref. 26938).
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs usually in coastal waters over sandy and muddy bottoms; juveniles are abundant in the surf zone. Sometimes enters estuaries. Feeds mainly on worms and crustaceans. Excellent food fish (Ref. 26938).

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: 11 July 2023

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; 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
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Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
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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

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | 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 = 0.5020 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight a=0.00794 (0.00504 - 0.01253), b=3.05 (2.92 - 3.18), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level
(Ref. 69278) 		3.9   ±0.6 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience
(Ref. 120179) 		Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Assuming tm <4).
Rate of population increase Prior r = 0.53, 95% CL = 0.35 - 0.80, Based on 1 data-limited stock assessment.
Fishing Vulnerability
(Ref. 59153) 		Low to moderate vulnerability (34 of 100). 🛈
Climate Vulnerability
(Ref. 125649) 		High vulnerability (56 of 100). 🛈
Price category
(Ref. 80766) 		Low.
Nutrients
(Ref. 124155) 		Calcium = 83.8 [47.1, 161.3] mg/100g; Iron = 0.977 [0.519, 1.751] mg/100g; Protein = 21.4 [19.5, 23.7] %; Omega3 = 0.337 [0.195, 0.549] g/100g; Selenium = 20 [11, 39] μg/100g; VitaminA = 11.8 [4.2, 39.0] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.799 [0.572, 1.159] mg/100g (wet weight);