Drums are so named for their ability to make drumming sounds with their swim bladder. Actually, many fishes are capable of making sounds, from squeaks to growls, although not all Drums can "drum". Kingfish lack a swim bladder but still vocalize by grinding their pharyngeal (throat) teeth.
Profile by Heather Corbett Assistant Fisheries Biologist
The Northern kingfish, Menticirrhus saxatilis, is popular with many saltwater anglers, and it's no wonder. These fish are known to put up a good fight, and their tasty, white meat is well worth the effort.
Profile by John McClain, Principal Fisheries Biologist
The croaker is a member of the Sciaenidae, or drum family, which includes the black drum and weakfish. Their name comes from the sound they can make by vibrating their swim bladders.
LOST AT SEA: A treatise on the management and ownership of shipwrecks and shipwreck artifacts
by Michael C. Barnette
Somewhere out on the ocean, a ship is in distress. Tossed about by churning seas and brutal winds, the vessel struggles to stay afloat. Her crew puts forth a valiant effort while passengers, many incapacitated by waves of nausea spawned by the ever-moving deck underneath their feet, huddle together in fear. The hull is slowly breached, and seawater steadily invades the ship. As the blitzkrieg of flooding water rises to extinguish the boiler fires, the vessel loses all power. Cast in darkness and overwhelmed by the noise of the howling wind and crashing surf, the sea tears off sections of the crippled ship, carrying away numerous unfortunate souls. The end is near.