English Name: Freckled driftfish
Family: NOMEIDAE
Local Name: Oimas, Fiyala dhari
Order: Perciformes
Size: Max. 20cm
Specimen: MRS/P0l84/88
Distinctive Characters: First dorsal fin with 9-11 spines. Second dorsal fin with I spine and 23-28 rays. Anal fin with 3 spines and 23-28 rays. Pectoral fin with 17-20 rays. Body depth 1.8-2.4 in standard length. Body firm, deep and compressed. Eye small, usually smaller than snout. Pectoral fin equal or less than head length. Teeth in both jaws small and pointed, not laterally flattened.
Colour: Pale grey-brown with silvery sheen. Numerous dark horizontal lines on sides.
Habitat and Biology: Oceanic and pelagic, often associated with seaweed and other drifting objects. Feeds on jelly fish, as well as other zooplankton and small fish.
Distribution: Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Remarks: Several specimens of Psenes cyanophrys were caught in drifting gillnets by R.V. ’Matha Hari’, during the exploratory offshore fisheries survey in 1987-88.