Pomfret

{{Short description|Family of ray-finned fishes}} {{About|the family of pomfret fish|other fish also called pomfret|Pampus (fish)|and|Trachinotus blochii|and|Parastromateus niger|other uses}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = Pomfret | fossil_range = {{fossil range|Early Oligocene|recent|earliest=Ypresian}} | image = Brama brama.jpg | image_caption = Atlantic pomfret, ''Brama brama'' | taxon = Bramidae | authority = Bonaparte, 1831<ref name = VDLEF>{{cite journal | author1 = Richard van der Laan | author2 = William N. Eschmeyer | author3 = Ronald Fricke | name-list-style = amp | year = 2014 | title = Family-group names of Recent fishes | url = https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.3882.1.1/10480 | journal = Zootaxa | volume = 3882 | issue = 2 | pages = 001–230 | doi = 10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1 | pmid = 25543675 | doi-access = free | access-date = 2020-11-08 | archive-date = 2021-03-10 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210310195213/https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.3882.1.1/10480 | url-status = live }}</ref> | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision_ref = <ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase family | family = Bramidae| month = February | year = 2013}}</ref> | subdivision = See text }}

'''Pomfrets''' are scombriform fish belonging to the family '''Bramidae'''. The family currently includes 20 species across seven genera.<ref name = Fishbase /> Several species are important food sources for humans, especially ''Brama brama'' in South Asia. The earlier form of the pomfret's name was "{{sic|hide=y|pam|flet}}", a word which probably ultimately comes from Portuguese ''pampo'', referring to various fish such as the blue butterfish (''Stromateus fiatola''). The fish meat is white in color.

==Distribution==

They are found globally in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, as well as numerous seas including the Norwegian, Mediterranean, and Sea of Japan.<ref name = Mead>{{cite journal | author1 = G. W. Mead| year=1972 | title = Bramidae | journal = Dana Report | volume = 81 | pages = 1–166}}</ref> Nearly all species can be found in the high seas. However, fish in the genera ''Pterycombus'' and ''Pteraclis'' tend to be found off continental shelves. Further, fishes in the genus ''Eumegistus'' are hypothesized to be largely benthic and found to occupy deep water shelves.<ref name = Mead/>

Some species of pomfrets are also known as '''monchong''', specifically in Hawaiian cuisine.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sickle Pomfret (Monchong)|url=http://www.hawaii-seafood.org/sickle-pomfret-monchong/|publisher=www.hawaii-seafood.org|access-date=10 April 2016|archive-date=10 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710161906/http://www.hawaii-seafood.org/sickle-pomfret-monchong/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Genera== The following genera are placed within the family Bramidae:<ref name = Fishbase/><ref name = CofF>{{Cof family|family=Bramidae|access-date=8 November 2020}}</ref>

* ''Brama'' Bloch & Schneider, 1801 * ''Eumegistus'' Jordan & Jordan, 1922 * ''Pteraclis'' Gronow, 1772 * ''Pterycombus'' Fries, 1837 * ''Taractes'' Lowe, 1843 * ''Taractichthys'' Mead & Maul, 1958 * ''Xenobrama'' Yatsu & Nakamura, 1989 The following fossil genera are also known:<ref>{{Cite web |title=PBDB Taxon |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicTaxonInfo?taxon_no=133669 |access-date=2024-04-16 |website=paleobiodb.org}}</ref>

* ?†''Bramoides'' Casier, 1966 * ?†''Goniocranion'' Casier, 1966 (possibly a lampriform) * †''Paucaichthys'' Baciu & Bannikov, 2003

The fossil genus †''Digoria'' was also previously placed with the Bramidae, but is now known to be a polymixiiform within in its own family, Digoriidae.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bannikov |first=A. F. |last2=Daniltshenko |first2=P. G. |date=1987 |title=A new family of Cenozoic bream (order Beryciformes) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282849911_A_new_family_of_Cenozoic_bream_order_Beryciformes |journal=Transactions of the USSR Academy of Sciences (Earth science) |volume=283 |pages=197–199}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Laan |first=Richard van der |date=2018-10-11 |title=Family-group names of fossil fishes |url=https://europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu/index.php/ejt/article/view/597 |journal=European Journal of Taxonomy |language=en |issue=466 |doi=10.5852/ejt.2018.466 |issn=2118-9773|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schrøder |first=Ane Elise |last2=Rasmussen |first2=Jan Audun |last3=Møller |first3=Peter Rask |last4=Carnevale |first4=Giorgio |date=2022-08-31 |title=A new beardfish (Teleostei, Polymixiiformes) from the Eocene Fur Formation, Denmark |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=42 |issue=2 |article-number=e2142914 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2022.2142914 |issn=0272-4634|hdl=10037/28645 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

==See also== * Several species of butterfishes in the genus ''Pampus'' are also known as "pomfrets". * List of fish families

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:Bramidae

af:Pomfret (vis) Category:Extant Rupelian first appearances