Atlantic croaker
species of fish
The Atlantic croaker (Micropogonias undulatus) is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sciaenidae and is closely related to the black drum (Pogonias cromis), the silver perch (Bairdiella chrysoura), the spot croaker (Leiostomus xanthurus), the red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), the spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus), and the weakfish (Cynoscion regalis). It is commonly found in sounds and estuaries from Massachusetts to the Gulf of Mexico.
Description
The name croaker is descriptive of the noise the fish makes by vibrating strong muscles against its swim bladder, which acts as a resonating chamber. The Atlantic croaker is the loudest of the drum family. It is also referred to as a hardhead, with smaller ones called pin heads. During spawning season (August to October), croakers turn a deep golden color, from this comes the name golden croaker. Beginning in August, tiny young enter the Chesapeake Bay and travel to low-salinity and freshwater creeks. They move to deeper parts of tidal rivers for the winter. Juveniles leave the bay with the adults the following autumn. When full-grown at 2 to 3 years old, croakers reach between 18 and 20 inches in length long and 4 to 5 pounds, but on average are 1/2-2 pounds.
The public source identifies “Atlantic croaker” as species of fish. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Atlantic, croaker and species.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q756981.
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This entry incorporates text from “Atlantic croaker” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.