Panga

This article is about the panga fish. See machete for information about the African cutting tool. See panga (boat) for information about the small watercraft used by commercial fishermen in Central America. See Panga, Burkina Faso for the town in Burkina Faso

Panga
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Perciformes Family: Sparidae Genus: Pterogymnus Smith, 1938 Species: P. laniarius
Binomial name
Pterogymnus laniarius (Valenciennes, 1830)

Panga is the common South African name for Pterogymnus laniarius, a small ocean-dwelling fish, native to the south-east Atlantic Ocean and south-west Indian Ocean. Alternatively called "Torpedo scads", they are cold-blooded with white flesh. Their scales are generally pink in color with whitish underbelly and blue-green stripes running laterally along its sides.

Over the course of its life, a panga will undergo periodic sex-changes with as much as 30% of the population being hermaphroditic at a time. Despite the presence of both sex organs, it is thought unlikely that both are simultaneously active. Panga are slow to reach sexual maturity, with a minimum population doubling time of 4.5–14 years.

In other countries the name panga may refer to a different species. In Indonesia, panga refers to Megalaspis cordyla, in Spain, the Netherlands and Poland it refers to Pangasius hypophthalmus, and in Kenya it refers to Trichiurus lepturus.

References

• Pterogymnus laniarius (TSN 647974). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 19 March 2006.
• "Pterogymnus laniarius". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. November 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.In India "Panga" Means to pick a Quarrel,Squabble,

Bicker, Argue and Wrangle

External links

• FAO's Species Fact Sheet about Megalaspis cordyla