Teleostei (teleosts) >
Eupercaria/misc (Various families in series Eupercaria) >
Sciaenidae (Drums or croakers)
Etymology: Leiostomus: Greek, leios = smooth + Greek,stoma = mouth (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Lacepède.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; brackish; demersal; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range ? - 60 m (Ref. 10325). Subtropical; 43°N - 19°N
Western Atlantic: Massachusetts to northern Mexico; absent in southern Florida.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 36.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 7251); common length : 25.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3702); max. published weight: 450.00 g (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 4 years (Ref. 12193)
Found usually over sandy or muddy bottoms in coastal waters to about 60 m depth. Occurs in nursery and feeding grounds in river estuaries during summer and fall. Juveniles often stay in the estuarine waters throughout the year. Feeds mainly on worms, small crustaceans and organic detritus. A small specimen of this species was caught in Tokyo Bay, Japan, probably brought in with the ballast water of a ship (Ref. 10325).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
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. 126983)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: commercial; bait: occasionally
Tools
Special reports
Download XML
Internet sources
