Fish

Southern Drift Fish

Ariomma indica

A small, pale, big-eyed fish of offshore mid-water, silvery to almost white with a black-lined gill cover.

Also known as indiese

Southern Drift Fish
Photo: Hamid Badar Osmany · CC BY 4.0
Typical size
Attains about 25 cm
Habitat
Offshore mid-water, Indo-West Pacific

The southern, or Indian, driftfish is a small stromateoid fish, pale blue to silvery and sometimes almost white, occasionally with faint spots. It has a prominent ridge over the eye and a black lining inside the gill cover.

A fish of offshore waters, it ranges through the Indo-West Pacific and is recorded off the South African coast around Durban. It grows to about 25 cm.