The red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), better known on the kitchen menu as redfish, is a large, coppery-bronze inshore fish of the US Atlantic and Gulf coasts in the drum family Sciaenidae, instantly recognised by the one or more black spots near its tail. Lean, firm and mild-sweet, its thick white fillets are the fish of New Orleans "blackened redfish" and of Gulf Coast court-bouillon and fish fries.