Dascyllus aruanus, known commonly as the whitetail dascyllus or humbug damselfish among other vernacular names, is a species of marine fish in the family Pomacentridae.[1]
| Whitetail dascyllus | |
|---|---|
_(48652156722).jpg)
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Family: | Pomacentridae |
| Genus: | Dascyllus |
| Species: | D. aruanus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Dascyllus aruanus | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Description
editWhitetail dascyllus is up to 10 centimetres (3.9 in) in length but its common size is 6 centimetres (2.4 in) and is white with three black vertical bars.[2]
-
Dascyllus aruanus off Guam
Habitat
editAssociated with coral reefs, most usually in groups above Acropora coral heads. Males may be aggressive against other fish while they tend eggs.[2] It changes behavior by analyzing its surroundings - in environments where it cannot camouflage easily, it will begin moving erratically to "dazzle" any predator trailing it. In contrast, it will move slower in environments it can camouflage in.[3]
Distribution
editWhitetail dascyllus is widespread throughout the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific region, Red Sea included.[1][4] However, the species has recently been split with D. aruanus found in the Pacific and Forsskål's 1775 name Dascyllus abudafur being resurrected for the Red Sea and Indian Ocean populations.[5]
In aquaculture
editThey are called aquarium 'Starter fish' as they are quite tolerant of variable conditions and aid in conditioning the tank environment for less hardy fish. These fish have been reared in captivity. They can be territorial with other fish. The adult is quite aggressive.
References
edit- ^ a b "Demoiselle a trois bandes noirs Dascyllus aruanus (Linnaeus, 1758)" (in French). Données d'Observations pour la Reconnaissance et l'Identification de la faune et la flore Subaquatiques. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Dascyllus aruanus". FishBase. June 2018 version.
- ^ Tosetto, Louise; Hart, Nathan S.; Ryan, Laura A. (2024-09-25). "Dazzling damselfish: investigating motion dazzle as a defence strategy in humbug damselfish (Dascyllus aruanus)". PeerJ. 12: e18152. doi:10.7717/peerj.18152. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 11438442. PMID 39346079.
- ^ "demoiselle à trois bandes noires Dascyllus aruanus décrit par Linnaeus, 1758". Sous Les Mers. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- ^ Borsa, P.; Sembiring, A.; Fauvelot, C.; Chen, W.-J. (2014). "Resurrection of Indian Ocean humbug damselfish, Dascyllus abudafur (Forsskål) from synonymy with its Pacific Ocean sibling, Dascyllus aruanus (L.)" (PDF). Comptes Rendus Biologies. 337 (12): 709–716. doi:10.1016/j.crvi.2014.09.001. PMID 25433563.