''Xenobrama microlepis'', the golden pomfret, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of pomfret, a type of fish, found in the Subantarctic

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 ...

. This species is known to grow to a length of SL. This species is the only known member of the

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 ...

''Xenobrama''. ''Xenobrama microlepis'' is a combination of the Greek word ''xenos'' and ''microlepis'' with ''Brama'', meaning "strange ''Brama'' with small scales".

Description

''Xenobrama microlepis'' was first described in 1989 by Akihiko Yatsu and Izumi Nakamura. While similar to fishes in the related genus Brama, ''Xenobrama microlepis'' is unique in that it possesses short, stout gill rakers and smaller scales that are greater in number. Other characters that are unique to this species include a narrow subpectoral region, a wide interpelvic region, and lower mandible edges that come together to touch.

Distribution

''Xenobrama microlepis'' is reported to be widely distributed throughout the high seas of the South Pacific Ocean. Despite this, it remains to be rarely caught or seen.

Diet

There is little information pertaining to the diet of ''X. microlepis''. Limited collections of stomach contents revealed a number of different food items, including

squid A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also ...

, other fishes, and

amphipods Amphipoda () is an order (biology), order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods () range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 10,700 amphip ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2679714 Bramidae Fish described in 1989