There are three common species of fish in our waters that we know by various names but the most common is ground mullet. These fish all are from the genus Menticirrhus in the drum family Sciaenidae, which includes the spot, red drum and spotted sea trout.
As with all seemingly impossible to pronounce scientific names for fish these have a specific meaning related to their appearance. The first part ‘menti’ is the connective form of the word ‘mentum’ which means chin in Latin and ‘cirrhus’ which is a word for a slender filamentous structure.
All three of these ground mullet have a single chin barbel, which is used to detect odors in the water in a never-ending quest for food.
The most common of the three ground mullet is the southern kingfish (M. americanus), which also called whiting and sometimes king-croaker. Southern kingfish are brown to silver-gray, with dark bars on the sides and white on the bottom. It ranges from Cape Cod in the north as far south as Argentina and is most prominent in the South Atlantic and northern Gulf areas. It likes to frequent sandy or mud-sand bottoms. The oldest ever recorded was a six year old. Most fish anglers take are two year olds. It is brownish in color with dark bars running at an angle from the back down the sides.
The southern kingfish moves in schools and is found in the surf, bays near passes, and in deep holes and channels. It is the most active during the summer months and primarily feeds on bottom dwelling organisms like worms and crustaceans.
The best bait to use is peeled shrimp worked slowly over the bottom. The average size of a southern kingfish is typically under a pound. The latest data show that the Gulf of Mexico record for the southern kingfish is 3.62 pounds, caught off Texas in 1992.
The northern kingfish (M. saxatilis) has the same range and habitat as the southern kingfish and even looks similar but can be easily told apart because of its extended first dorsal spine. They are darker in color over all with the bars on their sides much dark than in the southern kingfish. It is not as common as the southern king fish but is it not a rare event to catch one or a bunch off Alabama.
The third member of this trio is the Gulf kingfish (M. littoralis) a.k.a. whiting. This ground mullet gets its name from its color. The whiting is either very pale or a washed out white with no bars along its sides. It ranges from Maryland south along the coast of Brazil. Like its fellow ground mullet it is most abundant in the upper Gulf and the South Atlantic.
Whiting can reach four pounds and a maximum length of two feet – though that is rare. It most commonly reaches a foot in length and between one and two pounds.
The whiting favors rougher more turbulent waters than southern or northern kingfish. It avoids muddy bottoms and is strictly a sand loving creature. Whiting favor small crustaceans like sand fleas and worms. They love shallow water and rarely if ever get more than a mile or two from shore. Because of the confusing common names and the general term of ground mullet applied to these three fish people sometimes think that their flesh has a very strong fishy taste.
It does not and if you give them a try I think you’ll find them to be one the better eating fish in the Gulf.
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