20 October 2008

Fish or jellyfish? Pomfret mimicks jellyfish

The Chinese pomfret (Pampus chinensis) is among our favourite seafood. Its juveniles are rarely encountered. A recent paper on the Nature in Singapore website shares some insights into this situation.

from "Apparent mimicry of jellyfish by juvenile pomfret, Pampus chinensis (Teleostei: Stromateidae)". H. H. Tan. Pp. 139-142. [PDF, 431 KB]

One juvenile was observed swimming in an erratic manner somewhat like a jellyfish!

There's a video clip of a swimming juvenile pomfret (24.5 MB)

In colouration, juvenile fish also resembles a jellyfish.
Photo from the article.

In addition, when it was caught, the fish produced "copious quantities of clear mucus".

The article also shares other examples of juvenile fishes mimicking poisonous animals.