The southern kingfish, Menticirrhus americanus, is an inshore bottomfish ranging from Long Island, New York to Florida, through the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf), and south to Buenos Aires, Argentina. In U.S. waters, this species is most common south of Chesapeake Bay. It is a popular sport and food fish along the southeast coast of the U.S. and in the Gulf where it is taken incidentally in commercial fisheries (Wenner and Sedberry 1989).

Although its distribution in estuaries is not well documented, M. americanus is considered estuarine-dependent (Gunter 1945) and uses all estuarine areas primarily as a nursery. The life history of M. americanus is poorly known and some detailed studies have been made only along the southeast coast of the US. Knowledge ofthis species in the Gulf is general and based chiefly on faunal studies, including Gunter (1945); however, they are sometimes conflicting, e.g., widely different spawning seasons have been suggested (Harding and Chittenden 1987).