freshwater drum
Aplodinotus grunniens Rafinesque, 1819
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.
Drawing by Duane Raver.
Drawing by Dunana Raver · Public domain · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The freshwater drum, Aplodinotus grunniens, is a fish endemic to North and Central America. It is the only species in the genus Aplodinotus, and is a member of the family Sciaenidae. It is the only North American member of the group that inhabits freshwater for its entire life. Its generic name, Aplodinotus, comes from Greek meaning "single back", and the specific epithet, grunniens, comes from a Latin word meaning "grunting". It is given to it because of the grunting noise that mature males make. This noise comes from a special set of muscles within the body cavity that vibrate against the swim bladder. The purpose of the grunting is unknown, but due to it being present in only mature males and during the spawning season, it is assumed to be linked to spawning.
The freshwater drum is also called Russell fish, shepherd's pie, gray bass, Gasper goo, Gaspergou, gou, grunt, grunter, grinder, gooble gobble, and croaker. It is commonly known as sheephead and sunfish in parts of Canada, and the United States.
Wikipedia contributors, Freshwater drum; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:00:44.996484+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Aplodinotus grunniens Rafinesque, 1819
- Name authority
- Rafinesque, 1819
- Common name
- freshwater drum
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Family
- Sciaenidae
- Genus
- Aplodinotus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · 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
- genusAplodinotus Rafinesque, 1819
- speciesAplodinotus grunniens Rafinesque, 1819
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 |
|---|---|
| Aplidonotus grunniens Rafinesque, 1819 Rafinesque, 1819 | synonym |
| Corvina richardsoni Cuvier, 1830 Cuvier, 1830 | synonym |
| Sciaena grisea Lesueur, 1822 Lesueur, 1822 | synonym |
| Sciaena oscula Lesueur, 1822 Lesueur, 1822 | synonym |
| Corvina richardsonii Cuvier, 1830 Cuvier, 1830 | 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.
- Rafinesque, C. S. (1819). Prodrome. De 70 nouveaux genres d’animaux découverts dans l’intérieur des Etats-Unis d’Amérique, durant l’année 1818. Journal de Physique, de Chimie, d’Histoire Naturelle et Des Arts, 88: 417–429. 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:FPF5. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.