Pola vatta fish

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About Pola vatta fish-

• It belongs to the ‘queen fish’ group and is named Scomberoides pelagicus. 
• In local parlance, the fish is known as pola vatta.
• It is distinct by the deep ovate body, concave dorsal head profile, and stout and less numerous gill rakers on the first-gill arch compared to the closely related species.
• There are more than 60 species of carangids in Indian seas, out of which four belong to the ‘queen fish’. 
• The newly described one is the fifth queenfish from Indian waters. 
• All over the world, three queen fishes were extinct earlier. 
• The new fish is available across coasts in the country including Kerala and is highly relished and has good demand in domestic markets.

About queen fish-

• The queenfish (Seriphus politus) is a species of fish in the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers.
• It is native to the eastern Pacific Ocean.
• It is also known commonly as the queen croaker. 
• This is the only species in the monotypic genus Seriphus.
• This species is up to 30 centimeters long. It has an elongated, compressed body. 
• It feeds on marine invertebrates and small fish.
• It is blue-grey to tan in colour with a shiny silver belly and a dark horizontal line running the length of the body. 
• The pectoral fin is dark and the other fins are yellowish. 
• The mouth contains one or two rows of pointed teeth.
• It occurs in coastal waters, such as bays and sloughs, moving to deeper waters at night.

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