''Pterycombus'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
pomfret
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. The earlier form of ...
s distinguished by greatly elongated dorsal and anal fins. Along with the genus ''
Pteraclis
''Pteraclis'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Bramidae, the pomfrets. They are known commonly as fanfishes. The three species are distributed throughout the oceans of the world.
Species
Species include:
* '' Pteraclis aesticola'' ( D ...
'', they are commonly referred to as fanfishes. ''Pterycombus'' can be distinguished from ''Pteraclis'' by examining the dorsal and anal fin rays, which should be relatively uniform in thickness to neighboring rays and by a lack of scales anterior to the dorsal fin.
Species
Currently, there are two recognized species in this genus:
* ''
Pterycombus brama'', Atlantic fanfish
(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)
* ''
Pterycombus petersii'', prickly fanfish
( Hilgendorf, 1878)
Species Distinction
''Pterycombus brama'' can be distinguished from ''Pterycombus petersii'' by measuring the length of the longest dorsal and anal fin rays. In ''P. brama'', the longest ray will be greater than half standard length, but will be less than half standard length in ''P. petersii''.
These two species can also be distinguished by geographic location. ''P. brama'' is generally distributed throughout the North and Central Atlantic Ocean, while ''P. petersii'' inhabits Pacific waters from Southern Africa to the Indo-Pacific. However, ''P. petersii'' has recently been found in the eastern North Pacific off the coast of
Oregon
Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
,
suggesting that it may have a greater distribution throughout Pacific waters.
References
Bramidae
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