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Dascyllus aruanus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Whitetail dascyllus
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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Dascyllus aruanus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Dascyllus aruanus (Whitetail dascyllus)
Dascyllus aruanus
Picture by Patzner, R.


Cook Islands country information

Common names: [No common name]
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments:
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/cw.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: McCormack, G., 2000
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Ovalentaria/misc (Various families in series Ovalentaria) > Pomacentridae (Damselfishes) > Chrominae
Etymology: Dascyllus: Greek, daskillys, -on = a kind of fish (Ref. 45335).
  More on author: Linnaeus.

Issue
Dascyllus abudafur<> former synonym of this species is resurrected with Indian Ocean distribution and D. aruanus restricted to Pacific Ocean. Information herein will be re-assigned accordingly.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; non-migratory; depth range 0 - 20 m (Ref. 9710).   Tropical; 38°N - 35°S, 19°E - 124°W

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Pacific Ocean: region north and east of Lombok Strait to Line, Marquesan and Tuamoto islands, north to southern Japan, south to New Caledonia.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 5.0  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 10.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4391); common length : 6.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5450); max. reported age: 6 years (Ref. 72479)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 12; Dorsal soft rays (total): 11 - 13; Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 11 - 13. Color in life white with 3 black bars; a large brown spot on dorsal part of snout and interorbital; lips dusky or white; caudal fin pale; pelvic fins black; pectorals transparent. Margins of preorbital, suborbital, and preoperculum finely serrated (Ref. 2746). Body depth 1.5-1.7 in SL (Ref. 90102).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Territorial, inhabit shallow lagoon and subtidal reef flats. Form large aggregations above staghorn Acropora thickets or in smaller groups above isolated coral heads. Feed on zooplankton, benthic invertebrates, and algae. Males invite females to spawn in their nests; protecting the eggs until they hatch and becoming very aggressive against other fish. Eggs hatch after 3-5 days; pelagic larvae feed on plankton (Ref. 5503). Oviparous, distinct pairing during breeding (Ref. 205). Used in behavioral study. Have been reared in captivity (Ref. 35412). Diurnal species (Ref. 54980, 120737).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Male selects and protects the nest; does the courtship `dance' about 1 m above the nest and escorts the attracted female to the nest site where spawning ensues (Ref. 33146). Oviparous, distinct pairing during breeding (Ref. 205). Eggs are demersal and adhere to the substrate (Ref. 205). Also Ref. 103751.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Allen, Gerald R. | Collaborators

Borsa, P., A. Sembiring, C. Fauvelot and W.-J. Chen, 2014. Resurrection of Indian Ocean humbug damselfish, Dascyllus abudafur (Forsskål) from synonymy with its Pacific Ocean sibling, Dascyllus aruanus (L.). Comptes Rendus Biologies, Elsevier Masson, 337(709-716). (Ref. 119133)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 23 September 2021

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest; aquarium: commercial
FAO(Publication : search) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Trophic ecology
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Predators
Ecology
Ecology
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Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 24.9 - 29.3, mean 28.4 (based on 2883 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5005   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.02239 (0.01732 - 0.02894), b=2.95 (2.88 - 3.02), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.3   ±0.42 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tmax=6; Fec=1,500-2,000).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).