Atlantic Croaker
Atlantic Croaker (Micropogonias undulatus) is a saltwater species. The first thing to check: three to five pairs of very small barbels under the chin — easy to miss, so run a fingertip along the jaw. The look-alike to rule out is Spot Croaker: spot have a prominent dark shoulder blotch behind the gill cover and no chin barbels at all.
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| Scientific name | Micropogonias undulatus |
|---|---|
| Also called | croaker, hardhead, golden croaker |
| Water | Saltwater |
| Group | Drum |
| Temperature | Feeds between about 60 and 80 °F. |
How to identify an Atlantic Croaker
- Three to five pairs of very small barbels under the chin — easy to miss, so run a fingertip along the jaw.
- Brassy silver flanks with faint dark wavy marks forming oblique broken bars above the lateral line.
- An audible croaking or drumming sound made with the swim bladder when the fish is handled.
If you would rather not work through a key on a wet deck, photograph the fish and let the app name it — you get the common and the scientific name back, and the record is filed before you release.
Fish it is mistaken for
| Species | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Spot Croaker | Spot have a prominent dark shoulder blotch behind the gill cover and no chin barbels at all. |
| Black Drum | Black drum are far heavier with a high arched back and much larger, more obvious chin barbels. |
Side-by-side comparisons
Read the full entry for Spot Croaker and Black Drum.
Where it lives
Atlantic and Gulf estuaries, sounds, piers and surf from the mid-Atlantic to Texas. Feeds over mud and sand bottom, moving offshore to spawn in autumn.
Temperature
Feeds between about 60 and 80 °F.
The conditions that matter
Croaker are bottom feeders that hunt by scent and by feel, so they keep biting in turbid water and after dark when sight predators have shut down. Moving tide over soft bottom is the pattern, and they are one of the most reliable fish on a dirty, blown-out day.
Global Fishing League records 18 weather and water readings against every catch automatically — tide stage, barometric pressure, water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, swell, current, moon phase and more, taken at your GPS position at the moment you log the fish. Over a season that turns a hunch about atlantic croaker into a pattern you can read.
See every reading recorded with a catch, or the guides to what each reading means.
Size limits, bag limits and seasons
Size limits, bag limits, slot limits and seasons are set by your state wildlife agency — and for many offshore and migratory species by federal regulators — and on many waters they differ from the statewide rule. They also change between seasons. Check the current regulations for the exact water you are fishing before you keep a fish — we do not republish limits here, because a number that is a season out of date is worse than no number.
What the app does do is make your side of it accurate: every catch carries a length measured from the photograph, a GPS position and a timestamp, exportable if you ever need to show your work for a tournament or a record claim. It is also what a Global Fishing League entry is built from — a record that verifies itself, without publishing where you caught the fish.