Common Name: Neon Damsel

Distribution: Abundant in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the eastern Indian Ocean and western Central Pacific region: Sri Lanka to the Line and Tuamoto Islands, north to southern Japan, south to Rowley Shoals and Lord Howe Island. In Australia recorded north from Geraldton in Western Australia, across the tropical north to the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, south to southern New South Wales, and including Lord Howe Island.

Ecological Notes: Frequents lagoon and seaward reefs, close to the bottom among rubble beds, juveniles often among soft corals. Depth 1 – 20 m.

Additional Notes: Iridescent blue with yellow tail and partly yellow belly. Sometimes seen in association with Yellowfin Demoiselle, Chrysiptera flavipinnis, which differs in having yellow on the dorsal surface of the body. Often in large numbers close to the bottom where they feed on zooplankton and sometimes benthic algae. Fish in the bottom photograph has been identified as a colour morph that occurs throughout the Solitary Islands. 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.274.

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

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

iNaturalist website at Australasian Fishes https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/132781284 accessed 08/09/2022.