The black croaker is a variety of croaker or drum fish. A deep-bodied seawater fish which can be cooked in many ways. Croakers or drums are so named because of the croaking and drumming which accompanies their mating. It is the white sea bass of Californian waters. It is no relative of the sea bass of the eastern Atlantic but is a croaker or drum fish. The body of the white sea bass is elongate, and somewhat compressed. The head is pointed and slightly compressed. The mouth is large, with a row of small teeth in the roof, while the lower jaw is slightly projected. It is bluish to grey above, with dark speckling, becoming silver below. The white sea bass is closely related to the California corbina, but is the only California member of the croaker family to exceed 9 kg (20 lbs) in weight. White seabass are the largest members of the croaker family on the U. S. Pacific coast, reaching a maximum recorded length of 1.5 m (5 ft), 41 kg (90 lbs) and twenty years in age.
