Red Drum, Sciaenops ocellatus, Synonyms: Redfish, Channel bass (USA), Corvina (South America)
Red drum is a wonderful fish for producing in the hatchery and comes along with a very detailed descriptions of its biology and production technology. I developed methods and systems for producing the fish in the Atlit hatchery where our main markets for the juveniles were seawater and brackish water farms as well as reservoirs where, as a predator, it was used for controlling wild spawning Tilapia populations.
Although the larvae hatches at a very small initial size of under 3mm, it is very robust and within the first 3 weeks it metamorphoses into a juvenile by which time it is completely adapted to feeding on artificial diets. Red drum is very cannibalistic but this is easily overcome through constant grading at the nursery stage. Growth is rapid, survival is high and all together, this is an excellent aquaculture candidate.
