''Trachinotus africanus''. the Southern pompano or African pompano, is a species of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

from the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

Description

''Trachinotus africanus'' is a very deep bodied fish, silver in colour with blue fins with yellow margins. The fish has a blunt nose and does not have large spots.

Distribution

''Trachinotus africanus'' has a disjunct distribution with three populations. There is a population in the south-western Indian Ocean along the African costa from

Knysna Knysna () is a town with 76,150 inhabitants (2019 mid-year estimates) in the Western Cape province of South Africa. and is one of the destinations on the loosely defined Garden Route tourist route. It lies at 34° 2' 6.3168'' S and 23° 2' 47. ...

in South Africa to

Delagoa Bay Maputo Bay ( pt, Baía de Maputo), formerly also known as Delagoa Bay from ''Baía da Lagoa'' in Portuguese, is an inlet of the Indian Ocean on the coast of Mozambique, between 25° 40' and 26° 20' S, with a length from north to south of over 90&n ...

in Mozambique; a second population is in the northern Indian Ocean from the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channe ...

in Yemen to

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

in Pakistan; and the third population is around

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

in Indonesia. This species was described in 1967 by the South African

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...

James Leonard Brierley Smith James Leonard Brierley Smith (26 September 1897 – 8 January 1968) was a South African ichthyologist, organic chemist, and university professor. He was the first to identify a taxidermied fish as a coelacanth, at the time thought to be long e ...

(1897-1968) with the type locality given as Knysna.

Habitat and biology

''Trachinotus africanus'' is an inshore species of the surf zone which has a tolerance for water with low salinity and will enter estuaries. It is a bottom feeder which prefers the seaward edges of reefs which frequently forages for food in wave formed gullies in sandy substrates and along the edge of the wave zone. It is a solitary species. The fish feed upon rock mussels, sand mussels, sand dollars, crabs, and mole crabs. The fish consumes these with a powerful pharyngeal dentition.

Human interest and conservation

''Trachinotus africanus'' is a quarry species for recreational shore and boat

angling Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook or "angle" (from Old English ''angol'') attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techniqu ...

spearfishing Spearfishing is a method of fishing that involves impaling the fish with a straight pointed object such as a spear, gig or harpoon. It has been deployed in artisanal fishing throughout the world for millennia. Early civilisations were familia ...

and subsistence fisheries in South Africa. It is a very popular species for recreational fishing in

KwaZulu Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locat ...

and its commercial use is banned there, in the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

fish caught in

False Bay False Bay (Afrikaans ''Valsbaai'') is a body of water in the Atlantic Ocean between the mountainous Cape Peninsula and the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the extreme south-west of South Africa. The mouth of the bay faces south and is demarcat ...

can be sold. There is a closed season which rules from 1 October to 30 November. The fish is lauded for being excellent table fare, being grilled or prepared on a

braai Barbecue varies by the type of meat, sauce, rub, or other flavorings used, the point in barbecuing at which they are added, the role smoke plays, the equipment and fuel used, cooking temperature, and cooking time. The meat may be whole, groun ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2219847

africanus Africanus is Latin for "African". It may refer to: People Ancient Roman cognomen * Africanus Fabius Maximus, the younger son of Quintus Fabius Maximus (consul 45 BC) and an unknown wife * Cresconius Africanus, a Latin canon lawyer of uncertain dat ...

Taxa named by J. L. B. Smith Fish described in 1967