''Menticirrhus saxatilis'', the northern kingfish or northern kingcroaker, is a species of marine fish in the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
Sciaenidae
Sciaenidae are a family of fish in the order Acanthuriformes. They are commonly called drums or croakers in reference to the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make. The family consists of about 286 to 298 species in about 66 to 70 gene ...
(commonly known as the "drum" or "croaker" family). It lives in the shallow coastal waters of the western
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...
and
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United S ...
.
Description
The northern kingfish can grow to about , but a more usual adult length is .
[''Menticirrhus saxatilis'' (Bloch & Schneider, 1801): Northern kingfish]
FishBase. Retrieved 2012-03-07. It is a slender fish, being most deep bodied in the pectoral region. As in most bottom-feeding fish, its upper jaw projects further than the lower and the snout overhangs the mouth. There is a small
barbel on its fleshy lower lip. The dorsal fin is divided into two parts. The front part is triangular, short but tall with 10 spines, the third of which is the longest and is extended into a short filament. The other part of the dorsal fin is long and slightly tapered and has one spine and 24 to 27 soft rays. The pointed pectoral fins are quite large and the anal fin has 1 spine and 8 soft rays. The tailfin has a characteristic slightly concave upper lobe and a rounded lower lobe. The colour is dark grey with a metallic sheen and paler grey below. There are several diagonal bars of darker colour on the upper body. These mostly run towards the rear of the body but one or two bars near the head slope the other way. The fins are a dark colour, tipped with white. Unlike most members of its family, the northern kingfish has no air bladder, so the fish does not make the "croaking" sound that is characteristic of the family.
[, ''Fishery Bulletin of the Fish and Wildlife Service'', U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved from Gulf of Maine Research Institute website, 2012-03-07.]
Distribution and habitat
The northern kingfish is a subtropical,
demersal
The demersal zone is the part of the sea or ocean (or deep lake) consisting of the part of the water column near to (and significantly affected by) the seabed and the benthos. The demersal zone is just above the benthic zone and forms a laye ...
fish found in shallow waters in the western Atlantic Ocean. Its range extends from
southwards through the Gulf of Mexico to the
Yucatan peninsular of Mexico. It is found in
schools
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compul ...
in places where the seabed is sand or mud, in the surf zone and in estuaries. It can tolerate low
salinity
Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal ...
levels and the juveniles are often found in tidal rivers and creeks.
[ It is occasionally seen in ]Maine
Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...
and in this more northerly part of its range it is migratory, disappearing from October to May.[
]
Biology
The northern kingfish feeds on benthic
The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...
invertebrates. The diet consists mainly of small crustacean
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean gro ...
s such as shrimp
Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...
s and crabs but amphipods, polychaete
Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are ...
worms, molluscs, small fish and mysids are also eaten and it also scavenges on carrion.[
In the eastern United States, ]spawning
Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aqua ...
takes place from April to August. The spherical eggs contain oil globules. They are pelagic
The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or w ...
and disperse with the currents. The developing larvae are somewhat tadpole-like with large heads. By the time the fry reach a length of the soft dorsal and anal rays have already appeared and when they are long, the spiny rays have also developed. By this stage, their bodies are covered by melanophores.[ They reach a length of about by their first winter and by their second.][
]
Uses
The northern kingfish is not fished commercially but from New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...
southwards it provides good sport to surf anglers and those in boats close to the shore. The bait used can be pieces of squid, clams or bloodworms. The fish has tasty white meat.Northern Kingfish: A Profile
New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife. Retrieved 20121-03-20.
References
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2765403
Sciaenidae
Fish described in 1801