Black drum have been taken in gulf waters off Texas at depths of 5-27 m from December to June. Adult black drum are most common over sand or soft bottoms or over oyster reefs and clam shell deposits. Juvenile black drum are most common over muddy bottoms in estuary systems. Juvenile black drum can tolerate a wide range of salinities and have even been taken in freshwater. Scales firm, ctenoid.
Live adults are silvery or blackish with a brassy luster, and the fins have a black or dusky color.
Coloration may change with habitat or age. Young black drum usually have 4 to 6 vertical black bars on their sides. In the Gulf of Mexico, black drum are almost uniformly silvery, losing vertical crossbars early in life. Fish occupying bays and lagoons are darker in color, often bronze along the back and dirty white on the side and belly. They spawn in or near passes into the Gulf of Mexico and in open bays and estuaries.