Parastromateus niger (Bloch, 1795)

Yennawar, Prasanna, Mohapatra, Anil & Tudu, Prasad Chandra, 2017, An account of Ichthyofauna of Digha coast, West Bengal, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 117 (1), pp. 4-4 : 4-

18. Parastromateus niger (Bloch, 1795)

Black pompfret (Figure 19)

Materials examined: 1 ex., 16.04.2011; Mohana, Digha; Reg No. MARC /ZSI/F1764 .

Description: Body deep and compressed; dorsal and ventral profiles of body strongly and equally convex. Mouth terminal with upper jaw unrestricted dorsally and ending below and slightly before anterior margin of eye; both jaws with a single row of small conical teeth; gill openings unrestricted laterally and ventrally. Pelvic fins absent in specimens larger than about 10 cm fork length. Lateral line very weakly arched anteriorly, with junction of straight and curved parts below posterior third of dorsal fin; straight part of lateral line with 8 to 19 weak scutes, forming a slight keel on caudal peduncle; scales small and deciduous, and almost completely covering dorsal and anal fins. Colour uniformly silvery-grey to bluish-brown (yellowish-brown when deciduous scales are missing); fins with dark edges. Young with dark vertical bars and long black jugular pelvic fins.

Distribution: Indo-West Pacific: East Africa to southern Japan and Australia.

Remarks: The fish has high commercial value. Size: 55 cm.