Freshwater drum facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Freshwater drum |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification |
The freshwater drum (scientific name: Aplodinotus grunniens) is a fish found only in North America and Central America. It's the only type of fish in its group called Aplodinotus, and it belongs to the Sciaenidae family, which are often called 'drums' or 'croakers'. What makes it special is that it's the only fish from this family in North America that lives its whole life in freshwater.
Its scientific name, Aplodinotus grunniens, has a cool meaning! Aplodinotus comes from Greek and means "single back," referring to its dorsal fin. The second part, grunniens, comes from a Latin word meaning "grunting." This name was given because mature male drums make a grunting sound. They do this by vibrating special muscles against their swim bladder, which is like an air sac inside them. Scientists aren't totally sure why they grunt, but since only adult males do it during the breeding season, they think it might be a way to attract mates.
Freshwater drums usually weigh between 5 and 15 pounds (about 2.3 to 6.8 kg). The biggest one ever caught was in Nickajack Lake in Tennessee, weighing a huge 54 pounds and 8 ounces (about 24.7 kg)! Their color can change depending on where they live. In cloudy water, they are gray or silvery. In clearer water, they look more bronze or brown. They have a deep body and a dorsal fin that is split into two parts, with 10 spines and 29–32 soft rays.
This fish has many nicknames! Some common ones are Russell fish, gray bass, Gasper goo, grunt, grunter, and croaker. In some places, people also call them sheephead or sunfish.
Contents
Where Freshwater Drums Live
Freshwater drums are the only fish in their family in North America that live only in freshwater. Other fish in their family that live in freshwater are found in South America or Asia. These drums are found across a very large area. They live as far north as the Hudson Bay in Canada and as far south as Guatemala. From east to west, they are found from the eastern Appalachian Mountains all the way to Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. This makes them one of the most widespread fish species in North America.
How Freshwater Drums Live
Freshwater drums prefer clear water, but they can also live in cloudy or murky water. They like the bottom of the water to be clean sand and gravel.
What Freshwater Drums Eat
Freshwater drums mostly eat small creatures that live on the bottom, like insect larvae and mussels. They also eat small fish in some places. Their diet changes with the seasons. In spring (April and May), they eat a lot of flies and other insects, which can make up about half of their food. From August to November, they tend to eat more fish, especially young gizzard shad. During this time, fish can be 52% to 94% of their diet. They also eat mollusks and crayfish. Freshwater drums are often found near walleye fish.
Who Competes with Freshwater Drums
Freshwater drums compete for food and space with other fish. When they are young in Lake Erie, they compete with yellow perch, trout-perch, and emerald shiner. As adults, they compete with yellow perch and silver chub in deep water, and with black bass in shallower areas.
Who Eats Freshwater Drums
Humans and other fish eat freshwater drums. When they are young, freshwater drums are food for many predatory fish like smallmouth bass and walleye. Once they grow bigger, humans become their main predators. Freshwater drums are an important fish for commercial fishing on the Mississippi River, but in other areas, they are not caught as much. They are most active and caught at night. Even though they are fished commercially, their market price is usually low, so they are often caught by accident when people are trying to catch more valuable fish.
Freshwater Drums and Zebra Mussels
Scientists have studied how freshwater drums affect zebra mussels, which are an invasive species in northern lakes and rivers. Freshwater drums do eat zebra mussels once they are about 25 cm (10 inches) long. However, smaller drums (under 35 cm or 14 inches) only eat small mussels and leave the bigger ones alone. Larger drums (over 35 cm) are less picky and eat mussels based on how many are available. While these larger fish can crush zebra mussels, they are limited by how big the clumps of mussels are that they can remove. Even though drums eat zebra mussels and cause many of them to die, they don't seem to stop the spread of this invasive species.
Life Cycle and Reproduction
During the summer, freshwater drums move into warm, shallow water that is less than 33 feet (10 meters) deep. They spawn (release eggs and sperm) for about six to seven weeks, from June through July, when the water reaches about 65°F (18°C). During spawning, females release their eggs into the water, and males release their sperm. The eggs are fertilized randomly in the water.
Male drums usually become ready to reproduce at four years old, while females are ready at five or six years old. Females between six and nine years old can release between 34,000 and 66,500 eggs. They release their eggs in open water and do not care for their young. Because of this, many eggs and young fish are eaten by predators. The eggs float to the surface and hatch in two to four days. The newly hatched fish are very tiny, about 3.2 mm (0.13 inches) long. After about 45 hours, they grow to about 4.4 mm (0.17 inches).
Female drums grow faster and become larger than males throughout their lives. They can reach lengths of 12 to 30 inches (30 to 76 cm). While most freshwater drums weigh between 2 and 10 pounds (0.9 to 4.5 kg), some can grow to be over 36 pounds (16 kg). These fish can live a long time! Some have lived for 72 years in Red Lakes, Minnesota, and 32 years in the Cahaba River, Alabama. In Wisconsin, some have even reached 74 years old. However, the average age for a freshwater drum is usually between 6 and 13 years.
Current Management
There are no special management plans for freshwater drums right now. They are not considered endangered or threatened by federal or state governments. Even though commercial fishing catches up to 1 million pounds (about 453,000 kg) of them each year, they are not in danger of being overfished. For example, in the Mississippi River alone, about 300,000 pounds (136,000 kg) have been caught in recent years. Because there are so many of them, many states allow methods like bowfishing to catch them.
See also
In Spanish: Corvina de agua dulce para niños
