What's the difference, if any,...

...between a whiting and a ground mullet? I was down this past week surf fishing, catching a grunch of both on Fishbites with very light tackle, and a gent I was fishing near told me they are related but different species of fish. He said the way to tell the difference is 1) ground mullet have a thread fin on top running off the dorsal fin and 2) whiting have a visible black spot on the top of the tail fin. I've looked on line but haven't found a definitive answer yet.

It's not that big a deal, I just wanted to know. I was fishing strictly catch and give away, primarily to him...he said they were both pretty good eatin' fish.

Any help would be appreciated...thanks in advance.

First time I heard Whiting referred to as ground mullet, but that may be due to my limited time Gulf fishing which I attempt to correct as often as possible. Got my curiosity up so this is what I web surfed: Southern Kingfish - Interesting Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico and Coastal Mississippi. There are several species of Whiting and what they are called mostly pertains to the local area where they are caught.

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Originally Posted by snakeeater

I was fishing strictly catch and give away, primarily to him...he said they were both pretty good eatin' fish.

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That is what i think to.
They are related no doubt. Different though, maybe only because of where you are when puttin a hurt on em.

And better than pretty good, by our experience.

Snakeater, sand flea is correct. They are actually two different fish. Northern kingfish and Southern kingfish and your friends description was spot on. The differences are negligible to the ocaisional fisherman and they are often schooled together. As far as eating goes, they are both excellent and you couldn't tell the difference in taste. There is no size or creel limit so telling them apart really doesn't matter. Shoulda kept some for dinner...

3 species actually
Southern, Northern and Gulf kingfish.
"Whiting" and "ground mullet" are colloquial names thus the confusion.

http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com...tid=5352&stc=1

When I was a kid we called the mottled brownish ones "ground mullet" and the essentially same shaped white ones "whiting".

That was 60ish years ago.

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Originally Posted by snakeeater

...between a whiting and a ground mullet? I was down this past week surf fishing, catching a grunch of both on Fishbites with very light tackle, and a gent I was fishing near told me they are related but different species of fish. He said the way to tell the difference is 1) ground mullet have a thread fin on top running off the dorsal fin and 2) whiting have a visible black spot on the top of the tail fin. I've looked on line but haven't found a definitive answer yet.

It's not that big a deal, I just wanted to know. I was fishing strictly catch and give away, primarily to him...he said they were both pretty good eatin' fish.

Any help would be appreciated...thanks in advance.

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I had caught several whiting the last time I was in GS and the DNR guy checked my cooler and said that he thought they were ground mullet. Then he changed his mind and said that they were whiting and he was mistaken. Whichever they were, they were tasty.

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Originally Posted by fordguy

I had caught several whiting the last time I was in GS and the DNR guy checked my cooler and said that he thought they were ground mullet. Then he changed his mind and said that they were whiting and he was mistaken. Whichever they were, they were tasty.

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The distinction is insignificant, except possibly to the fisheries biologist. I want to go on the record saying that I do not discriminate between the three varieties! I will fillet them and fry them up without prejudice or species differentiation!

The distinction between Northern, Southern and Gulf Kingfish are indeed visually significant enough to allow for easy identification.
And the Gulf, better known to us as Whiting is very distinctly different from the other two.

The DNR officer showed astounding ignorance of his knowledge of common species ID.
He'd likely screw up IDing juvenile Black drum from Sheepshead. Much less Spanish from juvenile King.
And this is his profession?

Now mix a bag of fillets and no one will be able to tell you the difference.

All three make good sashimi.

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Originally Posted by ChileRelleno

The distinction between Northern, Southern and Gulf Kingfish are indeed visually significant enough to allow for easy identification.
And the Gulf, better known to us as Whiting is very distinctly different from the other two.

The DNR officer showed astounding ignorance of his knowledge of common species ID.
He'd likely screw up IDing juvenile Black drum from Sheepshead. Much less Spanish from juvenile King.
And this is his profession?

Now mix a bag of fillets and no one will be able to tell you the difference.

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I'm not a regular on the pier (even though I wish I could be) but there were two officers out checking licences and coolers that day. I've no idea if the second officer was more knowledgeable, but it was a little nerve wracking. I thought I might have misidentified my way into some sort of fine while attempting to follow the rules.

In the old days, Park Rangers, and game wardens seemed to know more about wildlife, even though they weren't biologists. Specie ID is not a requirement for the position currently. Times change.

The reason that I say that the distinction is not significant is that there's no significance when it comes to limits, plus they all have small mouths, so there no differentiation in the bait and hook size. There's no difference that I can tell in how they feed or where they're caught, since one can often catch them in mixed schools. When they're caught, they all fillet the same and taste the same when they're cooked. That's the extent of my involvement with them! When I've caught a bunch of 'em, I don't sort them out by species for one reason - the information would mean nothing to me. I know the difference between the species and I CAN identify them, but what's the point unless one of them is the state record? Even then, I'm not into trophies, so I'd probably just treat a state record like all the others - fry it up!

I suppose that, come mating season, species differentiation matters to the fish, so only if reincarnation is a thing will it ever have significance to me. And that's if I come back as a kingfish.

Ground mullet (southern & northern kingfish) are more common in the bays & estuaries. I've caught them above I-10.
Very rarely will would GULF kingfish go up into the bays, they are more of a true surf fish, like pompano.

Oops, corrected my mistake.

Gulf and Northerns commonly feed in the surf zone, Southerns are usually found in deeper water though they will move up near the beaches to spawn and they are most common in the bays where the other two are not commonly found.
In 45 years I have only caught all three at the same location a handful of times.

Here is a good description of all 3 species from MS DMR:

http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com...tid=5359&stc=1

ALMR does not differentiate between the species in their record keeping...

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Gulf/Southern Kingfish

Whiting/Ground Mullet

Lamont W. Rigney

Eight Mile, AL

4/9/01

2lbs 15oz

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When caught in the white sand surf, ground mullet sometimes look like whiting but once on ice for a while they really darken up.

I've noticed that change John. Makes it a lot easier to see the difference, as if it mattered.

What size whiting and ground mullet do you guys usually keep? We have caught several while we were down but never very big. I haven't cleaned any yet.

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Originally Posted by bkwathen

What size whiting and ground mullet do you guys usually keep? We have caught several while we were down but never very big. I haven't cleaned any yet.

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I just got back home from a week down there. I put on a fish fry Tuesday night, so in planning to do so, I kept smaller fish than I typically would (in fact, I rarely keep any).

I'd say a 1.5 pound or better whiting is most desirable. Since I filet everything (raised as a bass fisherman), it really isn't any trouble to filet even the little ones. The only problem with the small ones is that you end up with a crappie sized filet. I'll say that even just casually keeping and cleaning them, it didn't take but two fishing sessions to come up with enough to have a fish fry for 7 family members. I ended up with a bunch of tasty little filets that I can best describe as being similar to "crappie nuggets". A bit of House Autry and peanut oil made for some fine eating.

I also caught several smaller legal flounder to add to the pot, so that didn't hurt either. We ended up with about twice the amount of fish that we needed.

As a person that likes to land sharks, I basically drew the line based on what I thought was castable shark bait or people food.

I prefer the ones 12" and up.
Those are fish about 2 1/2 to 3 years old that have spawned at least once...
http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com...tid=5360&stc=1