pomfret is a name mainly used for two deep-bodied narrow fish of Asian coastal waters. These have many characteristics in common, but belong to different families. The white pomfret, Pampus argenteus, is in the family Stromateidae; whereas the so-called black (brown-grey in reality) pomfret, Parastromateus niger, is a member of the family Carangidae. The pomfrets, when adult, have no pelvic fins; a characteristic which they share with the rather similar group of what are called butterfish (also of the family Stromateidae—Peprilus triacanthus is the outstanding one on the eastern seaboard of the USA, dubbed by Mitcham (1975) ‘one of the most delicious treats which Mother Ocean provides, and one of the rarest’).
