Photo by Jürgen Buchelt
Panga are a small species of seabream, family Sparidae, to which belong such common fish as hottentot, zebra's, roman's and others. It is less often seen then most breams, as they prefer deeper wates offshore. Reefs such as D-Frame, Outer Castle and Whittle Rock are good places to see it, where it may be quite common. Because it is generally seen at depth the delicate pink or red colour is lost, and only becomes aparent when lit up by a torch or camera strobe. Because of this panga may be confused with streepie or even steentjie, but can be distinguished readily by the darker red margin of the tail fin.
See "Coastal fishes of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay", available from SURG, for more details.
Coastal fishes of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay, a divers' identification guide, G Zsilavecz, 2005.
Smiths' Sea Fishes, MM Smith and PC Heemstra, 1986.
Two Oceans, A guide to the marine life of Southern Africa, GM Branch, CL Griffiths, ML Branch and LE Beckley, 1994.
Coastal Fishes of Southern Africa, PC Heemsta and E Heemstra, 2004.