Alexandria pompano
Alectis alexandrina
Pompano
Trachinotus ovatus
About
The pompano is a fast, silvery fish with a flattened, elongated body built for open water. It grows to about 70 cm and 2.8 kg, though most are closer to 35 cm.
Also known as: silverfish, pompano, australian dart, short dorsal fin pompano, glaucus
- Length
- 35 cm · max 70 cm
- Weight
- max 2.8 kg
- Depth
- up to 200 m
How to tell it apart
Other silvery jacks share this flattened, forked-tail shape. The pompano stands out by the row of three to five black spots along the middle of its flanks, paired with a white spot on the upper tail.
Appearance
The body is silver with a greenish back, and the deeply forked tail has black edges and a white spot on its upper half. The dorsal and anal fins carry black tips, and three to five small black spots run along the middle of the flanks.
Habitat
The pompano lives in the Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic, from the Bay of Biscay south to Angola. It gathers in schools over sand or mud in clear, shallow water where waves surge, and it also enters lagoons and river mouths, ranging down to depths of 50 to 200 m.
Is it dangerous?
harmless
Did you know?
Pompano schools will gather under fish farm cages to feed on food pellets that fall through the netting.
Log it in Into the Blue
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