Pomfrets are scombriform fish belonging to the family Bramidae. The family currently includes 20 species across seven genera. Several species are important food sources for humans, especially ''Brama brama'' in

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

. The earlier form of the pomfret's name was "", 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 The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

, Indian, and

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

s, as well as numerous seas including the Norwegian,

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

, and

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

. 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 The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...

and found to occupy deep water shelves. Some species of pomfrets are also known as monchong, specifically in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

an cuisine.

Genera

The following genera are placed within the family Bramidae: * '' Brama''

Bloch Bloch is a surname of German origin. Notable people with this surname include: A *Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881–1925), Austrian entrepreneur *Albert Bloch (1882–1961), American painter *Alexandre Bloch (1857–1919), French painter *Alfred Bloch ( ...

& Schneider, 1801 * '' Eumegistus''

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

, 1922 * '' Pteraclis'' Gronow, 1772 * '' Pterycombus''

Fries French fries, or simply fries, also known as chips, and finger chips (Indian English), are ''List of culinary knife cuts#Batonnet, batonnet'' or ''Julienning, julienne''-cut deep frying, deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin. They are prepa ...

, 1837 * ''

Taractes ''Taractes'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes from the family Bramidae, the pomfrets. ''Taractes'' can be distinguished from other bramid genera but having a flat, or slightly curved profile, between the eyes (unlike the definitive arched ...

'' Lowe, 1843 * ''

Taractichthys ''Taractichthys'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes from the family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship ...

Mead Mead (), also called honey wine, and hydromel (particularly when low in alcohol content), is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alco ...

& Maul, 1958 * ''

Xenobrama ''Xenobrama microlepis'', the golden pomfret, is a species of pomfret, a type of fish, found in the Subantarctic Pacific Ocean. This species is known to grow to a length of SL. This species is the only known member of the genus ''Xenobrama''. ...

'' Yatsu & Nakamura, 1989 The following fossil genera are also known: * ?†'' 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 beardfish.

References

{{Authority control af:Pomfret (vis) Extant Rupelian first appearances

Distribution

Genera

See also

References