Description: A damselfish, small, deep-bodied and laterally compressed, with large eyes and small mouth with a single row of incisiform teeth. The head is scaly except for the tip of the snout and lower jaw. Two spines present on the anal fin. Juveniles are an intense blue colour, with numerous blue lines and light blue dots; adults are darker and less dotted. May present sexual dimorphism during the breeding season.
Global Distribution: Eastern Central Atlantic: Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, and Senegal. View Map
Reproduction: Reproduces in the summer. The female deposits the eggs in a nest and the male cares for them, agitating the water to keep them aerated, and guarding them from potential predators.
Maturity:
Behavioural ecology: Can be solitary or form small groups. More active at dawn and dusk. Adult males are territorial and produce sounds when engaging in aggressive displays or territorial defense against other males.
Population structure & migrations:
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
Depth range: FishBase: 0 - 25 m. Canary Islands (González et al. 2000): ? - 50 m.
Habitat: Reef-associated. Adults inhabit rocky inshore areas, often near sand; juveniles found in tide pools.
Feeding habits: Feeds mainly on algae with associated minute invertebrates.
Trophic level: FishBase: 3.5
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Commercial species.
Conservation status: Global: Not evaluated.
Europe: Least concern.
Nutritional information & food safety: Health warning: damselfishes have extra bones among the flesh which may get lodged in the oesophagus, hence it is advisable to be careful when eating them.
REFERENCES
Afonso P., Santos R.S. (2005). Within-nest spawning-site preferences of female bluefin damselfish: the effect of early-stage eggs. Acta Ethologica, 8(1): 5-11.
Carpenter K.E., ed. (2002). The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and marine mammals. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. FAO, Rome, pp. 1375-2127.
González J., Hernández C., Marrero P., Rapp E. (2000). Peces de Canarias: GuÃa Submarina (5th edition). Francisco Lemus Editor, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canarias, Spain, 235 pp.
Hureau J.-C., ed. (1984-1985). Fishes of the North-Eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO. Accessed through: Marine Species Identification Portal. World Wide Web electronic publication. http://species-identification.org (2014).
IUCN (2014). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. www.iucnredlist.org
Kim H.U., Song H.J. (2012). Clinical characteristics of an oesophageal fish bone foreign body from Chromis notata. Journal of Korean Medican Science, 27(10): 1208-1214.
Morato T., Afonso P., Lourinho P., Barreiros J.P., Santos R.S., Nash R.D.M. (2001). Length–weight relationships for 21 coastal fish species of the Azores, north-eastern Atlantic. Fisheries Research, 50(3): 297-302.
Nieto A., Ralph G.M., Comeros-Raynal M.T., Kemp J., GarcÃa Criado M., Allen D.J., Dulvy N.K., Walls R.H.L., Russell B., Pollard D., GarcÃa S., Craig M., Collette B.B., Pollom R., Biscoito M., Labbish Chao N., Abella A., Afonso P., Ãlvarez H., Carpenter K.E., Clò S., Cook R., Costa M.J., Delgado J., Dureuil M., Ellis J.R., Farrell E.D., Fernandes P., Florin A-B., Fordham S., Fowle, S., Gil de Sola L., Gil Herrera J., Goodpaster A., Harvey M., Heessen H., Herler J., Jung A., Karmovskaya E., Keskin C., Knudsen S.W., Kobyliansky S., KovaÄić M., Lawson J.M., Lorance P., McCully Phillips S., Munroe T., Nedreaas K., Nielsen J., Papaconstantinou C., Polidoro B., Pollock C.M., Rijnsdorp A.D., Sayer C., Scott J., Serena F., Smith-Vaniz W.F., Soldo A., Stump E., Williams J.T. (2015). Europen Red List of Marine Fishes. IUCN and European Union, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 90 pp.
Santiago J.A., Castro J.J. (1997). Acoustic behaviour of Abudefduf luridus. Journal of Fish Biology, 51(5), 952-959.
