Genus: Pterycombus, Fanfish Pomfret, Pomfrets

PTERYCOMBUS

POMFRETS

Head and body compressed, an elongate oval tapering to slender tail base; forehead profile convex; snout short, bluntly rounded; eyes large; between eyes rounded; rear nostril a slit; mouth at front, strongly oblique, the rear of the top jaw wide, exposed and covered with scales; lower edges of bottom jawbone not touching along midline under head; the single dorsal and anal fins have long bases, similar shapes and sizes, I-III spines; dorsal fin origin over eye; dorsal and anal fins broadly expanded and sail-like, scaleless, flexible, completely depressible, when depressed lie in a sheath formed by elongate scales inserted along base of fin, that sheathnot extending beyond origin of fin; front rays of dorsal and anal fins of similar thickness, none enlarged; scaly sheath of dorsal fin crossed at front by scales that cross dorsal midline; tail base without transverse grooves; tail fin forked, stiff; scales with small spines; scales at end of tail base not abruptly different in size to those on tail fin.

A worldwide (except for the eastern Pacific) tropical to temperate genus with 2 species; 1 Indo-Pacific, the other Atlantic, which occurs in our region.