Pomfret

This article is about pomfret fish. For the town in Connecticut, see Pomfret, Connecticut.

Pomfret
Atlantic Pomfret, Brama brama
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Bramidae
Genera
Brama Collybus Eumegistus Pteraclis Pterycombus Taractes Taractichtys Xenobrama See text for species.

A pomfret (Avoli in Malayalam), is a type of fish belonging to the family Bramidae. It is native to Southern Europe and Asia. It is a fairly important food fish in some parts of the world, especially Asia. There are two species of pomfret which are often consumed, the Silver Pomfret (Pampus argenteus) and the Black Pomfret (Parastromateus niger).

Pomfret in Literature

The pomfret is referred to in Salman Rushdie's novel Midnight's Children, particularly in the chapter "Methwold," where he talks about how the pomfret went into decline as a driver of the economy of Bombay.

Species

• Genus Brama
  • Atlantic Pomfret, Brama brama
• Genus Collybus
• Genus Eumegistus
• Genus Pteraclis
  • Spotted Wingfish, Pteraclis velifera
• Genus Pterycombus
• Genus Taractes
• Genus Taractichtys
  • Big-scale Pomfret, Taractichtys longipinnis.
• Genus Xenobrama

See also

• Several species of butterfishes in the genus Pampus are also known as "pomfrets".

External links

• Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). "Bramidae" in FishBase. January 2006 version.
• Pomfret images