black drum
Pogonias cromis (Linnaeus, 1766)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Black Drum, Pogonias cromis. Rhode River, Anne Arundel County, MD - 08/17/20. Photo by Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center · CC BY 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 320 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The black drum (Pogonias cromis), also known as the drum or drummer, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean off the eastern coast of North and South America. Though most specimens are generally found in the 5-30 lb (2–14 kg) range, the largest black drum was just over 113 lb (51 kg), while in Argentina in 1971, a 48 kg black drum was captured. They are often black and/or gray in color with juvenile fish having distinctive dark stripes over a gray body. Their teeth are rounded and they have powerful jaws capable of crushing oysters and other shellfish. Black drum are capable of producing tones between 100 Hz and 500 Hz when performing mating calls.
Black drum over 15 pounds (6.8 kg) should be released, as their flesh is very coarse and tough.
Wikipedia contributors, Black drum; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:51:02.235058+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Pogonias cromis (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Common name
- black drum
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Family
- Sciaenidae
- Genus
- Pogonias
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- familySciaenidae Cuvier, 1829
- genusPogonias Lacepède, 1801
- speciesPogonias cromis (Linnaeus, 1766)
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Labrus cromis Linnaeus, 1766 Linnaeus, 1766 | synonym |
| Sciaena barbata Larrañaga, 1923 Larrañaga, 1923 | synonym |
| Pogonias courbina (Lacepède, 1803) (Lacepède, 1803) | synonym |
| Pogonathus courbina Lacepède, 1803 Lacepède, 1803 | synonym |
| Pogonias fasciatus Lacepède, 1801 Lacepède, 1801 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=159333 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4KVBP. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.