Just as whitespotted filefish don't always have spots, early stages of spotted drums don't have spots either. Throughout their lives, once they develop pigment, they remain black and white. However, their fin and body shape changes substantially as they grow. Juvenile stages don't have their namesake spots on their fins. The bottom 2 photos are of early juveniles that are no bigger than an inch or two. Above those is an intermediate stage. The top photo is an adult, about 10 inches long.
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