INDIANANGLER

Taken by a local fisherman, off Kovalam on live freelined prawn.
He also caught three more, all same in shape but two were silvery with dark bars, one was dark with darker blotches.


Any IDs welcome


Cheers

V.

off hand I'd say its sub species off a perch!!!

could also be a sea bass or the by product of a bass and a perch!!!

I think its safe for you to name him!

I think it is called palo in Goa

Looks like a bream... Coracinus Capensis

Thanks Bops.

Did you get it off the Maldives fish pdf?
Anyone caught it before?
Fred? Bobby? Small game? Native khabar?
Cheers

v.

Nopes. Was reading a book called fishing south africa on google print. One of the preview pages had this fish on it.

Bops

Hi Vedan,

Ask Dean and he will defenitely answer you. If I am correct, it is the palo (spelled in Goa) only.

Cheers,
Apoo

Approximately what size/weight was that fish?

LF

Are you sure it is called palo & not Paulo or Pedro ?

Guys,

This fish what is commonly known as a Blubber Lips, Sweet-Lips, or Grunt and yes they are related to the Perch.

The local name Palo or Paloo is commonly referred to Bream, but as all common names go they are very generic. This fish is not a Bream but from the Plectorhynchus or Plectorhinchus Genus depending on who you follow.

This one is the Black or Brown Sweet Lips

Brown Blubber-Lips - Plectorhynchus gibbosus Lacepede
Black Sweetlips - Plectorhinchus sordidus Klunzinger (Dont let the fishbase image throw you off).

Bobby

HI vedan ... Its Palu if you ask me ... depending on the place they are caught from they usually take on the surrounding color .... This guy must have been related to Iron Mike ... but they are damn good eating

Palo, Paloo, Perch Whats in a name ??
Let's call him Little Black Bugger

Cant we call him Paul

Vagabond is your man or this one.

Hi Guys,

I think it is very important to call a fish by the correct name, it is frustrating enough when you go out hunting particular species and you have to deal with the locals trying to locate a fish by name and are misinformed, so at least us anglers should try and get it right instead of horsing around. I don’t know about the rest of you guys but when I fish I like to know what I have caught and if I do not I will go lengths to find out what it is.

I am posting and image of what I am convinced is the same fish below. As I said in my earlier post - Brown Blubber Lips




Here is another image of a couple of different Bream AKA Paloo, Palo, Palu, hardly the same fish.



Regards,

Bobby

Sorry about the horsing around mate

Thanks for the pics.. Looking at them, I see there is a distinct difference in the pectoral and dorsal fins of both the fish.. Maybe a way where we can positively identify which fish is which
But then again, my expertise on Blubber Lips and Palu is very limited..

Hi Bobby,

Thanks and I'll second that. And you've got some more pics coming up for id'ing.

For the Palu fans- Maj. MacDonald, in his superb book 'Circumventing the Mahseer' puts the Palu in the Serranid class when talking about the Serranus commersonii- here's what he has to say-
"A very much better fish is that very good eating perch known as The Palu. This is a thickset pearly grey fish, with sturdy spines in dorsal and anal fin, running to 3-4lbs. It is much esteemed as a table fish and has the reputation of being the champion bait thief on the West Coast."

Cheers

V.

No Worries Gavin..

Which fish are you comparing Vedans Original with, I am saying it is the same fish as the fish on the first page, bottom Left, I have posted.

The one top left is another fihs..

Am comparing the smae ones, mate ... And then also compared the Palu to the Blubber ..

Yup Bobby It is definitely the Brown blubber-lips.

love that name... blubber lips.... knew a girl like that a long time ago.

I have edited that post and pointed to the fish in question.

The whitish stripe is a scaring from a net that it was caught in.

My thoughts could invoke a 3-pronged attack or a Size 12 impression

Pikey Bream for my money, except I have never seen one so black and exquisite in colour.Also it's robust and excellent condition is something to behold. It would be easier to identify if the dorsal fin was upright in Bobby's plate of the Pikey.
Cheers,
Glenn

It cannot be the Pikey Bream as that does not have a square tailfin.

To identify fish one has to be or act colour blind. Everything from temps to water colour to age affect their camouflage.

Learnt something from this thread. That is to make sure you identify the fish correctly (i have a lot of bird books to do this with birds now I need to get a few fish books too). Thanks mates!!!

Bobby's Blubber Lips is the winner of this identification parade.

Hi Bobby

Please could you mention one or two books that you refer to for saltwater fish?

Bops

Dr. Burgess's Atlas Of Fishes is one of them
Ken Shultz Encyclopedia of Fishing is another
Grants Fishes of Australia
Several other smaller handbooks and charts.

You cannot reffer to just one book, but if you were to go for just 1 Fish ID book then go for the Atlas.

The key to IDing is knowing your fish and the ability to recognize the Genus from a photographic point of view, so you know where to look or you will take a very long time looking through these books.

Good E.g. would be every one knows what a shark looks like to recognize one of a picture, say you look at the gill openings, many, so if you see something like this you know where to look. If you are looking for a type of Ray you shoud know that Sharks and Rays are related so in a book like that Rays and Shark will be grouped close together. Just a brief example...