''Chromis cyanea'' (blue chromis) is a

damselfish Damselfish are those fish within the subfamilies Abudefdufinae, Chrominae, Lepidozyginae, Pomacentrinae, and Stegastinae within the family Pomacentridae. Most species within this group are relatively small, although the four largest speci ...

in the subfamily ''Pomacentrinae'', found in

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

southern Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are Central Florida and North Florida. S ...

and the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

. It is collected for the aquarium trade.

Habitat and ecology

Being a shallow water fish, the blue chromis is commonly found at depths of 3 to 5 m, but it can reach depths of 25 m below

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. It's also been recorded at a depth of 60 m below sea level. It lives on the surface of reefs, but often swims in the water columns above the reefs to feed on

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...

Behaviour

It's a rather solitary species, seen alone or in small groups, and tends to stay close to the reefs. The younger fish stay near the bottom in order to avoid predators. The males maintain a solitary breeding territory. After breeding with multiple females, they guard the eggs until the planktonic larvae hatch.

Use and trade

The blue chromis is largely collected for use in aquariums. There are no reliable numbers on the extent of this collecting, but damselfish make up the most intensely collected fish group, making up almost half of the aquarium trade.

Threats

Besides the intense aquarium trade, the rapid expansion of

lionfish ''Pterois'' is a genus of venomous fish, venomous marine fish, commonly known as the lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific. It is characterized by conspicuous aposematism, warning coloration with red or black bands and ostentatious dorsal fins tip ...

in the Caribbean and the Atlantic coast, is the greatest threat to the blue chromis, as well as several other tropical fish native to the Caribbean. Furthermore, the loss of live corals could have a definite impact on the species, though this has yet to be investigated more closely.

Status

The blue chromis is assessed as "Least Concern" by the IUCN. Despite appearing only within an area of 2,500,000 km², it is considered abundant within that area, without any known continuous decline in range or population numbers. It's collected for the aquarium trade, but not in great numbers. Despite this, a deeper study is required, to measure the impact of the decline in habitat quality in the Caribbean has on the species.

References

External links

* cyanea Fish described in 1860 Fish of the Atlantic Ocean {{Pomacentridae-stub