Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

pompano Trachinotus carolinus, one of the finest fish in the large carangid family (see jack), is a fish of the W. Atlantic, with a range from Brazil up to Massachusetts. Its name seems to be derived from the Spanish word pámpana, meaning vine leaf. (In SE Asia the name appears as pampano and is applied to the beautiful T. blochii, golden in colour.)

The pompano has a maximum length of only 45 cm (18"), but its body is deep and narrow, and its appearance aristocratic. Its colour, blue-green above, shading to silver below, is typical of its family. It is caught in abundance off the Gulf coast of Florida.