Fun Sickle Pomfret Facts For Kids
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Sickle pomfret (Taractichthys steindachneri), popularly known as monchong in Hawaii, is a large marine deep-sea fish. Its Hawaiian name and the fish is slowly increasing in popularity in other areas of its range.
This fish was locally caught by fishing using longline gear and is now fished commercially by fisheries for its firm texture, high shelf life, and high oil content. Its commonly found near seamounts and continental shelves on the Indo-Pacific Ocean, namely East Africa, California (San Diego), Hawaii, and Mexico (Baja California).
It has a teardrop-shaped body, moderate-sized hard black scales, and a forked tail.
It has a white lateral line running along its flanks and a white outline on its anal and dorsal fins. Its lifespan is eight years.
For more relatable content, check out these pilchard facts and Florida pampano facts for kids.
Sickle Pomfret Interesting Facts
What type of animal is a sickle pomfret?
The sickle pomfret is a fish species belonging to the Bramidae.
What class of animal does a sickle pomfret belong to?
The sickle pomfret is a deep-sea fish that belongs to the class of bony fish, Actinopterygii.
How many sickle pomfrets are there in the world?
The population of the sickle pomfret (known as monchong in Hawaii) is unknown. Its conservation status is unevaluated. It is caught relatively often, and its distribution is done by fisheries as fresh seafood, which has a high shelf life.
Where does a sickle pomfret live?
The black sickle pomfret lives in the Indo-Pacific ocean waters of Mexico (Baja California), California (San Diego), Hawaii, and east Africa. They are not known to have any seasonal habits.
What is a sickle pomfret's habitat?
Sickle pomfrets live near seamounts and the edges of continental shelves. Seamounts are underwater geologic landforms that rise out of the ocean floor but don't break the surface, and continental shelves are underwater parts of continents.
Who do sickle pomfrets live with?
Pomfrets live in loose schools of fish. Very little information is available regarding the living habits of these fish.
How long does a sickle pomfret live?
Monchong can live for up to eight years. After it is caught, the fish stays fresh in the fisheries if appropriately stored because it has more than two weeks of shelf life.
How do they reproduce?
Pomfrets are open water egg scatterers, and their eggs are highly pelagic. They are broadcast spawners that release their eggs into the water column.
What is their conservation status?
The monchong conservation status is not known. Their status and details like population size, description, and seasonal distribution have not been formally assessed. It is considered Not Evaluated.
Sickle Pomfret Fun Facts
What do sickle pomfrets look like?
Taractichthys steindachneri (sickle pomfret) from Hawaii has a compressed deep silverish-black in a teardrop shape. Sickle pomfret scales are hard, and the fins are long with a white color line along the edge of the anal fins, caudal fins, and pelvic fins. The anal fins have 26-28 rays and the dorsal fin 33-37 rays.
Dorsal spines and anal spines are absent. The pectoral fins are positioned low on the body. They have a distinctive long forked caudal fin.
They have a high and round head, blunt snout, and large round eyes. Scales are absent around the eyes. The upper and lower jaws have small, curved, sharp teeth.
Juveniles have a lateral longline running along the body, which is absent in adult fish. The fins also have scales on them and thus do not fold into a groove. Monchong grows up to 2 ft (0.6 m) in length.
*We've been unable to source an image of sickle pomfret and have used an image of spotted trunkfish instead. If you are able to provide us with a royalty-free image of sickle pomfret, we would be happy to credit you. Please contact us at hello@kidadl.com.How cute are they?
The sickle pomfret fish description is not very cute, but this species is critical to the seafood chain. Since they are highly predatory species of fish, it is more vital for them to have predatory features rather than aesthetics.
How do they communicate?
The sickle pomfret (Taractichthys steindachneri) species, like most fish, use touch, smell, or chemicals to communicate. This is a highly educated guess considering very little information is available on this fish.
How big is a sickle pomfret?
The sickle pomfret (called monchong in Hawaii waters) is 24 in (61 cm) in length, and its depth is approximately half its length, 12 in (30.5 cm). It is the same size as a large Florida pompano fish and twice an oyster toadfish.
How fast can a sickle pomfret swim?
The swimming speeds of a sickle pomfret (monchong) species in Indo-Pacific waters are undocumented. They have a particular style of swimming; they swim on their side with the pectoral fin sticking up like the sail of a boat.
How much does a sickle pomfret weigh?
The maximum documented weight of a Taractichthys steindachneri (sickle pomfret) in the wild is 24 lb (10.88 kg). Its weight is slightly heavier than a horn shark and four times heavier than eels.
Since it has high oil content, a certain percentage of its body weight is fat. Its heavyweight and high meat recovery make it a popular fish in fisheries.
What are the male and female names of the species?
The male and female fish species of sickle pomfret (Taractichthys steindachneri) from Hawaii don't have specific names and do not exhibit sexual dimorphism either.
What would you call a baby sickle pomfret?
A baby sickle pomfret of Hawaii does not have any particular name. They are generally called juveniles or babies.
What do they eat?
The food diet of a monchong of the Taractichthys genus consists of small fishes, squids, and crustaceans. The juvenile sickle pomfret are prey for tuna and swordfish, and the adult pomfret is preyed on by bigeye tuna, albacores, swordfish, and large sharks. They don't have any seasonal changes in their food diet.
Are they dangerous?
Sickle pomfret (monchong) has no records of harming humans, but they are fish predators in their own distribution ranges. They prey on a variety of small fish and crustaceans.
Would they make a good pet?
No, the monchong species will not make for good pets. They are a very wild and predatory species of fish. They cannot like in a home aquarium; some commercial aquariums keep them as a part of their collection. They also prefer live food instead of processed fish meal.
Did you know...
The sickle pomfret taste description mentions that its taste has a mild fishy flavor. The firm flesh of monchong species is pinkish-white and has large flakes.
It's consumed by cooking it in various ways; grilled, broiling, baking and sauteing. It is a source of high oil content in its firm meat and mild flavor, making it an ideal partner for an acidic flavor. The eggs are not consumed.
This fish is caught by fishing fresh in open waters by hook and line methods, longline gear, and handline gear. Its fishing scale is still moderate and is not threatened by over fishing. Once caught, this fish can be kept fresh for two to three weeks in ice by fisheries because it has a long shelf life.
This species is mesopelagic; it lives in the pelagic or twilight zone. This pelagic zone begins where only one percent of light reaches and ends where no light reaches.
Due to pollution, these species of fish have a high level of mercury in them. It is advised for children and pregnant women to not consume this fish as mercury collects in your body and takes a lot of time to leave the system.
There are seven genera in the pomfret family (Bramidae); the family has 20 species of pomfret. The sizes differ from large, moderate, and small, while the colors range from black, silver, golden, brown, etc., and the body shape.
Pomfret is derived from the Portuguese word 'pampo,' which means the seawater fish with one single bone which runs along the middle of the body.
Does monchong have parasites?
Monchong species is often ridden with small parasitic worms in the meat around its belly. The parasites are harmless and can be removed easily by trimming them. Usually, the fisheries remove the parasites before the distribution of the fish into markets.
Why is it called monchong?
Monchong (sickle pomfret) refers to the two species of deep pomfret sea fish in the waters of Hawaii. This teardrop shape fish was initially harvested in small quantities locally using pelagic longline gear and hook and line gear by fisheries.
The more predominantly caught species is the sickle pomfret. The other species in Hawaii is the lustrous pomfret fish, distinguished by its coppery brown color.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these white tuna facts and mutton snapper facts pages.
You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable sickle pomfret coloring pages.
The first image is onwed by Uxbona.
The second image is owned by Betty Wills.
*We've been unable to source an image of sickle pomfret and have used an image of rudder fish instead as the main image. If you are able to provide us with a royalty-free image of sickle pomfret, we would be happy to credit you. Please contact us at hello@kidadl.com
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