Black pomfret (Parastromateus niger) is a saltwater, brackish species recorded in Malaysia. It is mainly found over sand, mud, estuary, at depths of 15–40 m. The main season in Malaysia runs spring, autumn.
Scientific name: Parastromateus niger · Water: Saltwater, Brackish · Season: Spring, Autumn
Size: up to 55 cm
Despite its shape, the black pomfret is not a true pomfret but the only member of the carangid genus Parastromateus. It has a deep, strongly flattened oval body that is dark above and silvery grey below; the long sickle-shaped pectoral fins are lost in larger specimens. It lives over sandy and muddy coastal grounds and in estuaries at roughly 15–40 m, schooling near the bottom by day and rising towards the surface at night to feed on zooplankton, and it ranges right across the Indo-West Pacific including all Malaysian waters. Locally it is the bawal hitam, a familiar and popular eating fish sold in every wet market and served steamed, braised or pan-fried. Trawls and drift gill nets take most of the commercial catch, while anglers fish bait such as prawn or fish strip on a bottom rig in estuaries and over inshore mud.
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