Plectroglyphidodon dickii

Plectroglyphidodon dickii, common name blackbar devil, Dick's damsel or narrowbar damselfish, is a species of damselfish in the family Pomacentridae.[2] This species was formerly classified as Dascyllus aruanus, but recently the populations of western Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean have been split off.[3]

Plectroglyphidodon dickii
P. dickii with white tail
With orange tail
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Family: Pomacentridae
Genus: Plectroglyphidodon
Species:
P. dickii
Binomial name
Plectroglyphidodon dickii
(Liénard, 1839)
Synonyms[1]
  • Glyphidodon unifasciatus Kner & Steindachner, 1867
  • Paraglyphidodon dickii (Liénard, 1839)
  • Plectoglyphidodon dickii (Liénard, 1839)
  • Abudefduf dicki (Liénard, 1839)
  • Plectroglypidodon dickii (Liénard, 1839)
  • Plectrogliphidodon dickii (Liénard, 1839)
  • Abudefduf dickii (Liénard, 1839)
  • Glyphisodon dickii Liénard, 1839

Etymology

The genus epithet Plectroglyphidodon derives from the Greek words plektron (meaning = anything to strike with, spur), plus the suffixes glyphis (mening carved) and odous (meaning teeth).[4]

Distribution

This species is present in the Indo-Pacific, from East Africa to the Line Islands and Tuamotu, north to Japan, south to Australia and east to French Polynesia.[4][5]

P. dickii amongst branching corals in French Polynesia

Habitat

These tropical marine reef-associated damselfishes occur in shallow coral reefs, especially with branching corals, in areas of high wave action, in clear waters lagoons and seaward reefs, at depths of 1 to 15 m. They are commonly present with Pocillopora or Acropora corals.[4][5][6][7]

Description

Plectroglyphidodon dickii can reach a body length of about 9–11 cm (3.5–4.3 in). These damsefishes have a compact and stocky body, with 12 dorsal spines, 16-18 dorsal soft rays, 2 anal spines and 14-16 anal soft rays.[4] The background coloring is mainly light brown with very visible scales and a small vertical black bar crossing the rear of the body, just ahead of the caudal area. The eyes show light blue rings and light purple markings. The dorsal, pectoral and pelvic fins are yellow orange or light brown, while the caudal fin is white, more rarely orange, with a transparent blue shaded fringe on the rear. The operculum sometimes shows a purplish tinge. Also the caudal peduncle can be white or orange.[5][8]

Biology

These damselfishes usually live in groups, but they are often encountered as solitary and highly territorial individuals. They commonly feed on filamentous algae, benthic small invertebrates and sometimes on small fishes.[5] They are oviparous. Eggs are demersal and adhere to the substrate, always protected and aerated by the male.[4][6]

Bibliography
  • Allen, G.R. 1975. Damselfishes of the South Seas. TFH Publications. Pp. 237.
  • Allen, G.R. 1991. Damselfishes of the World. Mergus. Pp. 271.
  • Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 220.
  • Baissac, J. de B. (1990) SWIOP/WP/54 - Checklist of the marine fishes of Mauritius., RAF/87/008/WP/54/90 Regional Project for the Development & Management of Fisheries in the Southwest Indian Ocean
  • Hiatt, R.W. and D.W. Strasburg (1960) Ecological relationships of the fish fauna on coral reefs of the Marshall Islands., Ecol. Monogr. 30(1):65-127.
  • Myers, R.F. 1999. Micronesian Reef Fishes. Coral Graphics. Pp. 330.
  • Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 251.
  • Rau, N. and A. Rau (1980) Commercial marine fishes of the Central Philippines (bony fish)., German Agency for Technical Cooperation, Germany. 623 pp.
gollark: Or also disassembling them, I suppose.
gollark: Consider:- disassembling other humans into nutrients you need, as they're nearby and contain exactly the right nutrients to live- forcefeeding to the point of obesity or something- making plants/other animals unable to grow due to removing all their nutrients
gollark: Them going rogue isn't the problem. Them working exactly as designed is.
gollark: I can't see ANY way of that going wrong!
gollark: Only a fraction go on to be sold on the open market.

References
  1. Catalogue of Life
  2. Biolib
  3. Seaunseen
  4. FishBase
  5. Australian Museum
  6. WoRMS – World Register of Marine Species
  7. Arjan Rajasuriya Field guide to reef fishes of Sri Lanka: volume 1
  8. Sea Unseen
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