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Pampus chinensis, the Chinese silver pomfret, is a species of butterfish native to the Indo-West Pacific region. As with other pomfrets of the genus Pampus, this is a highly esteemed and extremely popular species of food fish, and important to local commercial fisheries.

Taxonomy
The Chinese silver pomfret was first formally described as Pampus chinensis by Swedish naturalist Bengt Anders Euphrasén in 1788, with the type locality given as Humen, Guangdong Province, China. Euphrasén also described P. chinensis as Stromateus chinensis that year, currently regarded as a junior synonym.

Description
The Chinese silver pomfret has a very deep, firm and compressed body, covered in dark pigment spots, silvery white on the sides and grayish to brownish dorsally. The fins, darkest distally, are silvery to grayish. The species reaches a maximum standard length of 40 cm, though a length of 20 cm is more common. The caudal peduncle is short, deep, and strongly compressed, lacking scute-like scales or fleshy keels. The snout is blunt, rounded and the forehead almost straight. The eyes are small and located centrally. The small mouth is subterminal and curved downward posteriorly. The tiny teeth are arranged in a single series, flattened with 3 cusps, with the central cusp much larger than those adjacent. The scales are very small, cycloid, and deciduous, barely extending onto the bases on the fins. Naked patches are located on the head and nape, with an easily visible network of longitudinal sensory canals. There are 43–50 soft rays on the spineless dorsal fin and 39–42 soft rays on the anal fin.

Juveniles are rarely encountered alive, but are pale orange and translucent with a laterally compressed body. The pectoral fins are deep orange, large and rounded, and reaching to the caudal peduncle. Its dorsal and anal fins are rounded, dark orange, and together with the body, form a triangle. The caudal fin is hyaline with an outer orange margin.

Distribution
The Chinese silver pomfret is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific region, occurring from the Persian Gulf to the west and Indonesia to the east, including the Bay of Bengal, reaching north to Japan. This species is absent from Australia and New Guinea.

Habitat and biology
The Chinese silver pomfret is a mostly inshore tropical benthopelagic species that inhabits both marine and brackish habitats from depths of 10 m. It is amphidromous and occurs singly or in small schools over muddy bottoms.