Common Name: Australian Damsel

Distribution: Common throughout the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Western Pacific region: from around Townsville in Queensland to southern New South Wales, and including Lord Howe Island.

Ecological Notes: Frequent coastal reefs and lagoons preferring open coral, sandy or rubble areas. Depth 5 – 35 m.

Additional Notes: Juveniles often iridescent blue with colour darkening and becoming dull with adulthood, as pictured here. Blue “ear” spot, black blotch at pectoral fin base and dark tail margin is diagnostic of species. Feed primarily on algae, eggs are demersal and adhere to the substrate, male guards and aerates the eggs until hatching occurs. Grows to 8 cm.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.272.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Pomacentrus+australis. Accessed 02/07/18.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Pomacentrus-australis.html. Accessed 02/07/18.