''Plectroglyphidodon dickii'', common name blackbar devil, Dick's damsel or narrowbar damselfish, is a species of
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 family
Pomacentridae
Pomacentridae is a family of ray-finned fish, comprising the damselfishes and clownfishes. This family were formerly placed in the order Perciformes or as indeterminate percomorphs, but are now considered basal blenniiforms.
They are primaril ...
. This species was formerly classified as ''
Dascyllus aruanus
''Dascyllus aruanus'', known commonly as the whitetail dascyllus or humbug damselfish among other vernacular names, is a species of marine fish in the Family (biology), family Pomacentridae.
Description
Whitetail dascyllus is up to in length bu ...
'', but recently the populations of western Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean have been split off.
Etymology
The genus epithet ''Plectroglyphidodon'' derives from the Greek words (meaning = ''anything to strike with, spur''), plus the suffixes (mening ''carved'') and (meaning ''teeth'').
[
]
Distribution
This species is present in the Indo-Pacific, from East Africa
East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...
to the Line Islands
The Line Islands, Teraina Islands or Equatorial Islands () are a chain of 11 atolls (with partly or fully enclosed lagoons, except Vostok and Jarvis) and coral islands (with a surrounding reef) in the central Pacific Ocean, south of the Hawa ...
and Tuamotu
The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extending (from northwest to ...
, north to Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, south to Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and east to French Polynesia
French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...
.[
]
Habitat
These tropical marine reef-associated damselfishes occur in shallow coral reefs, especially with branching corals, in areas of high wave action, in clear waters lagoons and seaward reefs, at depths of 1 to 15 m. They are commonly present with Pocillopora
''Pocillopora'' is a genus of stony corals in the family Pocilloporidae occurring in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.Veron, J.E.N. (2000) Corals of the World. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townville, Australia. They are commonly called ...
or Acropora
''Acropora'' is a genus of small polyp stony coral in the phylum Cnidaria. Some of its species are known as table coral, elkhorn coral, and staghorn coral. Over 149 species are described. ''Acropora'' species are some of the major reef corals ...
corals.
Description
''Plectroglyphidodon dickii'' can reach a body length of about . These damselfishes have a compact and stocky body, with 12 dorsal spines, 16-18 dorsal soft rays, 2 anal spines and 14-16 anal soft rays.[Australian Museum]
/ref> Sea Unseen
/ref>
Biology
These damselfishes usually live in groups, but they are often encountered as solitary and highly territorial individuals. They commonly feed on filamentous algae, benthic small invertebrates and sometimes on small fishes.[ They are ]oviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...
. Eggs are demersal and adhere to the substrate, always protected and aerated by the male.[
]
Bibliography
*Allen, G.R. 1975. Damselfishes of the South Seas. TFH Publications. Pp. 237.
*Allen, G.R. 1991. Damselfishes of the World. Mergus. Pp. 271.
*Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 220.
*Baissac, J. de B. (1990) SWIOP/WP/54 - Checklist of the marine fishes of Mauritius., RAF/87/008/WP/54/90 Regional Project for the Development & Management of Fisheries in the Southwest Indian Ocean
*Hiatt, R.W. and D.W. Strasburg (1960) Ecological relationships of the fish fauna on coral reefs of the Marshall Islands., Ecol. Monogr. 30(1):65-127.
*Myers, R.F. 1999. Micronesian Reef Fishes. Coral Graphics. Pp. 330.
*Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 251.
*Rau, N. and A. Rau (1980) Commercial marine fishes of the Central Philippines (bony fish)., German Agency for Technical Cooperation, Germany. 623 pp.
References
External links
Natürliches Vorkommen
Sous Les Mer
{{Taxonbar, from=Q941180
dickii
Fish described in 1839