Freshwater pomfret Scientific name:

Fat Carp Family ? Characidae Fatty Carp Genus Piaractus Fish

The picture below shows a short-capped fatty carp, Piaractus brachypomus ? commonly known as Piaractus brachypomus. Red pompano

(same family as piranhas, but teeth are distinctly different)

Except for the chest, the lower margins of the gill covers, and the pectoral and anal fins, which are red, the rest of the fish is silvery, with a light black spot above the lateral line. There are teeth in the mouth, but they are not as large as in other carnivorous species, and the anal and caudal fins have black edges. Body length can be up to 88 centimeters.

Freshwater pomfret is an omnivorous fish, with a developed digestive system and an enlarged stomach and pyloric sac possessed by carnivorous fish, which ingests animal feeds such as small fish, shrimp and benthic animals, as well as plant feeds such as water plants, vegetables and algae. The fry stage mainly feeds on single-celled algae such as diatoms and methanogens, as well as zooplankton such as rotifers, branchiopods and copepods. When the full length reaches more than 7 centimeters, its food composition is mainly a variety of plant debris and feeding feed. So the fry stage mainly feeds on zooplankton.

With a mixed diet, fast growth, individual large, less disease, easy to catch, thick meat less, flavorful, nutritious and so on, in expanding the pond culture object, increase the yield per unit area is a kind of valuable fish, juvenile stage can also be used as ornamental fish. Freshwater pomfret was introduced into Taiwan Province of China in 1982, after the success of artificial breeding, began to promote the breeding of freshwater fish ponds. 1985 from Taiwan Province through Hong Kong introduced into Guangdong Province, Guangdong Province, 1987 to obtain the success of artificial breeding, and then gradually promote the whole country, become one of the highest annual output of famous species.