The Pompano Palometa blanca - Trachinotus ovatus

The Pompano, Palometa blanca (Trachinotus ovatus) is a sea fish belonging to the Carangidae family.

Leccia Stella Trachinotus ovatus The Pompano Palometa blanca intotheblue.it

We are in the waters of Elba Island at the beautiful beach of Fetovaia. On a day at the end of August in a beach crowded with swimmers and tourists, we filmed small specimens of Palometa Blanca as they swam in search of food amidst the surf of the waves, practically on the shore.

Like all the Carangidae in Mediterranean Sea, in the period of late August, September and October, these pelagic fish approach the coast and it is very easy to meet them.

Leccia Stella Trachinotus ovatus The Pompano Palometa blanca intotheblue.it

The Pompano is a tireless swimmer or pelagic fish and a predator that usually lives in herds of different individuals, except when hunting for which it often meets alone or aggregates in a maximum of two or three specimens.

It is a beautiful fish with a hydrodynamic shape and silvery reflections, so it easily attracts the diver’s attention, easy to meet, but very difficult to photograph and film for the speed with which it swims and the unpredictability of behavior in the presence of man.

Leccia Stella Trachinotus ovatus The Pompano Palometa blanca intotheblue.it

The Pompano, Palometa blanca (Trachinotus ovatus (Linnaeus, 1758)) is a bony sea fish belonging to the Carangidae family.

Distribution and habitat

It is widespread throughout the Mediterranean Sea and in the eastern Atlantic Ocean between the English Channel and tropical Africa. Very rarely it has been found as far north as Sweden and Norway. In Italian waters it is very common.

It is pelagic but purely coastal, it is usually found on sandy substrates but it is not an imperative. In winter it is more offshore.

Description

It has an ovoid body, laterally compressed, with a small mouth and rather large eyes compared to the leccia. The anal and first dorsal fins are symmetrical and opposite, the tail deeply struck. The color is pearly white with 3-5 darker oval spots on the sides and with the tips of the black fins.

Rarely reaches 50 cm in length with a maximum of 2 kg.

Supply

Based on small fish, especially lattarini, which also hunts near the shore. His technique is based on throwing himself into the bench and struggling when he grabs a prey. The fish in a desperate attempt to confuse the leccia jump out of the water.

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trachinotus_ovatus