Common Name: Lemon Damsel

Distribution: Uncommon in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the tropical Indo-West Pacific region: from the Andaman Sea to Fiji, north to Ryuku Islands and south to Lord Howe Island. In Australia recorded from Geraldton through to Ashmore Reef in Western Australia and from Torres Strait, the Coral Sea and the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland south to northern New South Wales, and including Lord Howe Island.

Ecological Notes: Frequents clear lagoon and seaward reefs usually in small aggregations amongst branching corals. Depth 1 – 14 m.

Additional Notes: Distinct plain yellow colouration and opaque yellow fins help distinguish from similar Pomacentrus amboinensis which has pale, almost transparent tail fin. Little colour variation in life stages, small juvenile, 12 mm long, in bottom photograph. Feed on algae and planktonic crustaceans. Distinct pairing during breeding, eggs are demersal and attached to the substrate where they are guarded by the male. Grows to 9 cm. 

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.276.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://www.fishbase.se/summary/Pomacentrus-moluccensis.html. Accessed 07/12/2020.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Pomacentrus+moluccensis. Accessed 07/12/2020.