Pomacentridae is a family of ray-finned fish, comprising the damselfishes and clownfishes. This family were formerly placed in the order Perciformes but are now regarded as being incertae sedis in the subseries Ovalentaria in the clade Percomorpha. They are primarily marine, while a few species inhabit freshwater and brackish environments. They are noted for their hardy constitutions and territoriality. Many are brightly colored, so they are popular in aquaria.
Heteractis magnifica, also known by the common names magnificent sea anemone or Ritteri anemone, is a species of sea anemone belonging to the Stichodactylidae family native to the Indo-Pacific area.
The Laccadive Sea or Lakshadweep Sea is a body of water bordering India, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka. It is located to the southwest of Karnataka, to the west of Kerala and to the south of Tamil Nadu. This warm sea has a stable water temperature through the year and is rich in marine life, the Gulf of Mannar alone hosting about 3,600 species. Mangaluru, Kannur, Kozhikode, Ponnani, Kochi, Alappuzha, Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram, Tuticorin, Colombo, and Malé are the major cities on the shore of the Laccadive Sea. Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of peninsular India, also borders this sea.
Henry Weed Fowler was an American zoologist born in Holmesburg, Pennsylvania.
Premnas biaculeatus, commonly known as spine-cheeked anemonefish or the maroon clownfish, is a species of anemonefish found in the Indo-Pacific from western Indonesia to Taiwan and the Great Barrier Reef. They can grow up to be about 17 cm (6.7 in). Like all anemonefishes it forms a symbiotic mutualism with sea anemones and is unaffected by the stinging tentacles of the host anemone. It is a sequential hermaphrodite with a strict size-based dominance hierarchy; the female is largest, the breeding male is second largest, and the male nonbreeders get progressively smaller as the hierarchy descends. They exhibit protandry, meaning the breeding male changes to female if the sole breeding female dies, with the largest nonbreeder becoming the breeding male. The fish's natural diet includes algae and zooplankton.
The New Zealand demoiselle, Chromis dispilus, is a damselfish of the genus Chromis, found between North Cape and East Cape of the North Island of New Zealand to depths of about 60 metres, off rocky coasts. Its length is between 15 and 20 cm. Males are highly territorial as they defend their nesting area from other males and other species. These aggressive fish defend their eggs laid by their female counterpart. Spawning occurs between the months of December and March. The New Zealand demoiselle's territory and nesting grounds of this fish are usually the largest in a medium population density. Like most territorial fish they tend to spawn more in higher densities of the same species compared to lower densities. Aggression levels tend to be higher amount higher densities of the same species and lower levels in smaller densities. Aggression also tends to be higher during spawning then during egg defending. Elevated plasma levels of androgen testosterone and 11-Ketotesterone are associated with the heighten levels of aggression shown by the males.
Abudefduf also known as the sergeant-majors is a genus of fish in the family Pomacentridae.
Amblypomacentrus is a small genus of fish in the family Pomacentridae. As of the year 2000, there are 3 species.
Dascyllus is a genus of fish in the family Pomacentridae. They are usually commensals with corals.
The lyretail damselfishes are fishes in the genus Neopomacentrus in the family Pomacentridae. They are all marine coastal fishes but N. taeniurus and N. aquadulcis are known to occur in brackish waters, and even in pure fresh water.
Stegastes is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Pomacentridae. Members of this genus are marine coastal fishes except for S. otophorus, which also occurs in brackish water. These fish are known by the names of damselfish, gregory and major. They are small tropical fish associated with coral and rocky reefs in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. They are sometimes found in the aquarium trade where they are an easy-to-keep fish, but they do not mix well with other fish of their own or other species because of their territorial habits and aggressiveness.
Allard's clownfish or Allard's anemonefish is a marine fish belonging to the family Pomacentridae, the clownfishes and damselfishes, from the western Indian Ocean off the coast of East Africa and the Mascarenes.
Chrysiptera is a genus of damselfish in the family Pomacentridae.
Stegastes nigricans, the dusky farmerfish, is a species of damselfish found around coral reefs at a depth of one to 12 meters, in tropical climates between 30°S and 30°N. They are known for farming monocultures of algae such as cyanophores and rhodophytes.
Amblyglyphidodon indicus also known as the Maldives damselfish is a species of fish in the family Pomacentridae. It is native to the Indian Ocean, including the Red Sea and the Maldives. The fish reaches 8.3 centimeters in length. Its diet includes zooplankton and floating organic material. It is likely that this fish is reef-associated. It has been noted at depths up to 15 meters.
The threespot dascyllus, also known as the domino damsel or simply domino, is a species of damselfish from the family Pomacentridae. It is native to the Indo-Pacific from the Red Sea and East Africa, to the Pitcairn Islands, southern Japan, and Australia. Its grey to black body has two lateral white spots and one between the eyes like domino hence the name; the threespot dascyllus grows up to 13 cm in length. Coloration is somewhat variable; the spot on the forehead may be absent and the lateral spots very much reduced. It feeds on algae, copepods and other planktonic crustaceans.
Coastal fish, also called inshore fish or neritic fish, inhabit the sea between the shoreline and the edge of the continental shelf. Since the continental shelf is usually less than 200 metres (660 ft) deep, it follows that pelagic coastal fish are generally epipelagic fish, inhabiting the sunlit epipelagic zone. Coastal fish can be contrasted with oceanic fish or offshore fish, which inhabit the deep seas beyond the continental shelves.
The yellowtail reeffish is a species of damselfish in the family Pomacentridae.
The lagoon damselfish, also known as the sweetlip damsel, is a species of ray-finned fish, a damselfish from the family Pomacentridae. It is a larger species of damselfish which is found in the Indo-Pacific where it occurs around branching corals in sheltered areas of reefs.
Jordan's damsel is a species of ray-finned fish from the family Pomacentridae, the damselfishes and clownfishes, it is the only species in the monotypic genus Teixeirichthys. It has a disjunct distribution in the Indian and western pacific Oceans having been recorded from the Red Sea, Mozambique Channel, Seychelles, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and Japan. It is found in beds of sea grass and over sandy substrates. Jordan's damsel is frequently observed to form mid-water aggregations of as many as several hundreds of individuals. It occurs at depths of 10–20 metres (33–66 ft). It has been recorded using small rocky outcrops and areas of debris to nest in in the Gulf of Aqaba. The generic name honours Gabriel M. Teixeira (1897-1973), who was the Governor-General of Mozambique and who assisted J.L.B. Smith's studies of the fish fauna of that territory. The specific name and common name both honour the American ichthyologist David Starr Jordan (1851-1931) who gave a collection of specimens from Swatow to Rutter, among which was the type of this species.
