Description: A damselfish, small, deep-bodied and laterally compressed, with large eyes and small, strongly protractile mouth with conical teeth. The head is scaly. Two spines present on the anal fin. Very young specimens are brilliant iridescent blue; young specimens are striped, with dorsal and anal fins outlined with blue, and adults are brown. The centre of each scale is paler. They may present sexual dimorphism.
Global Distribution: Mediterranean Sea and Eastern Atlantic from Portugal to the Gulf of Guinea. Mainly from the islands: Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, Cape Verde. View Map
BIOLOGICAL FEATURES
Size: Maximum length 25.0 cm (total lenght); common length 13.0 cm (TL).
Reproduction: Reproduces in the summer. Nesting is colonial. Eggs characterized by adhesive filaments are nested on rocky or sandy bottoms. Males guard the eggs.
Maturity:
Behavioural ecology:
Population structure & migrations: Non-migratory.
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
Depth range: FishBase: 2 - 40 m
Habitat: Reef-associated. Adults form small shoals in midwater above or near rocky reefs or above Posidonia seagrass meadows.
Feeding habits: Feeds on small planktonic or benthic animals.
Trophic level: FishBase: 3.0
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
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.
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.
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.
Picciulin M., Verginella L., Spoto M., Ferrero E.A. (2004). Colonial nesting and the importance of the brood size in male parasitic reproduction of the Mediterranean damselfish Chromis chromis (Pisces: Pomacentridae). Environmental Biology of Fishes, 70(1), 23-30.
