kelolalaut.com - The black pomfret fish, or scientifically known as Parastromateus niger, is a native fish within Indian Ocean, Arabian, and African coasts. They can grow up to 3 kg in weight. This fish is an omnivore that feeds on algae, small invertebrates and plants. They have been introduced in other place as well, including western Australia and parts of South America. They lived in depth of 3 to 50 metres. The juvenile inhabits estuaries where they are often preyed by larger fish. As an adult, they are rarely attacked except by tiger sharks. 

Taxonomy 

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Carangiformes

Family: Carangidae

Genus: Parastromateus

Species: Parastromateus niger

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In addition to its distribution in the ocean, the black pomfret is also can be found around the world like Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Gulf, Arabian Gulf, Indonesia, Philippines, China, and Southern Japan.

Their coloring are varies from black to brownish-black with white spots on their dorsal and caudal fins. The darker the fish’s coloration are, the older it is and the rarer it will be among collectors because its perceived higher value on the market.

The black pomfret has a compressed deep body with dorsal and ventral profile being equally convex. The color of the scale is dark grey with a small size scale that cover the entirely of the body. The fork measurement of Black Pomfret is commonly 30 cm but can also range up to 75 cm in length.

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This fish is susceptible to parasites which can cause damage to its growth, diet and overall in their life. The studies conduct by Indian researchers show that a parasitic isopod, Cymothea eremita, on black pomfret could be related to its health status, affecting to its growth and decreased feeding efficiency. Thus, will be greatly affects on the survival of black pomfret.

The black pomfret known as one of the commercial fish and is a popular fish that sold in Asian market. This fish has slightly ‘fishy’ flavour and its meat slight oily. It is recommend to cook them by steaming, poaching, deep frying, pan frying grill, smoke, barbecued, pickling or can  be serve as raw meat.