Rex Trulove
If you are Asian or Indian or live in Asia or India, you probably know what a Bombay Duck is. If you are an American, you probably don’t. This creature has nothing at all to do with birds, despite the name. It is a fish and a curious one at that.
The fish is commonly caught and consumed by people of India, China, and other Asian countries. It is sometimes called bummalo, bamoloh, bombil or loytta, but regardless of the common name, the scientific name is Harpadon nehereus and it is caught in tropical waters. It is also widely eaten in the areas where it is found, even though it isn’t exactly the most handsome fish, as can be seen in the image.
The Bombay duck is a strange looking fish, to say the least. The head is large, with the eyes located well forward on the head, and the body is quite streamlined. Most of those that are caught are around 10-inches in length, though it has been known to grow to nearly double this length.
The bottom jaw is longer than the top and both jaws are equipped with long, sharp teeth. The fins are long, but the three-lobed and deeply forked caudal or tail fin is small in comparison to the other fins. The overall appearance of this fish is quite like several deep sea fish, which is one of the curiosities since it is normally caught near the surface.
Little is known about the life cycle and feeding habits of this fish. It is entirely possible that it is indeed a deep sea fish that happens to come to the surface in huge numbers in the Indian Ocean. The fish does have the ability to live in brackish waters, though and has even been found in fresh water, miles from the mouths of the rivers.
In fact, large numbers of these fish gather during the monsoon season, because the monsoons wash minerals into the ocean, which increases the number of plankton and smaller fish that eat plankton. Bombay ducks are said to be aggressive predators and with the increased prey, they presumably gather in large numbers to feed. There is currently quite a bit of concern because the number of these fish that are caught has been dropping for some years now. The problem is that so little is known about it that it is hard to say for sure if it is being over-fished.
This is a fish that is often well known in India, but which is rarely heard of in the US. Have you ever heard of the Bombay Duck?
LOL. Never heard of the Bombay Duck. But if I ever come across this question I am so ready for it! LOL.
To be honest, I much prefer the idea of eating the trout, bass, and perch we catch at the local river. lol
Very interesting! Thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome. I’m glad you liked it.
I have never heard of the duck. Very interesting Rex to learn about foods from other countries.
In the photo it looks like fried fish.
That is appropriate since that is exactly what it is. LOL There is a restaurant in the nearest city that serves it, but I’ve not tried it so I don’t know what it tastes like.