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| fishes text index | photo index |
| Phylum Chordata > Subphylum Vertebrata > fishes |
| Damselfishes
Family Pomacentridae updated Feb 11 Where seen? Damselfishes such as the anemonefishes are sometimes seen on our shores. But most damselfishes live in deeper waters and are more frequently encountered by divers. What are damselfishes? They belong to Family Pomacentridae. According to FishBase: the family has 28 genera and 321 species. They are mainly found in the Indo-Pacific oceans, some are found in brackish waters. Anemonefishes (made famous by the cartoon 'Nemo') are among the better known members of this family. Features: Damselfishes vary widely in size, colour and shape. Some species can grow to 35cm, others are 1cm or smaller. Those that eat algae tend to be duller while plankton-feeders tend to be more colourful. What do they eat? As a family, they eat a wide variety of things. Plankton-feeding damselfishes are believed to play an important role in reefs as they occur in such huge numbers that they effectively filter the currents. Damselfishes that feed on algae are often aggressively territorial, defending their feeding area from all intruders. These tiny damselfishes will vigorously harass larger fishes and even divers. Damsel babies: In many species, a nest site is prepared by one or both partners. The eggs are attached by adhesive threads to the site and the male usually guards them until they hatch into free-swimming larvae. Human uses: Many members of this family are harvested from the wild for the live aquarium trade. Harvesting tropical scorpionfishes for the live aquarium trade may involve the use of cyanide or blasting, which damage the habitat and kill many other creatures. Like other fish and creatures harvested for the live aquarium trade, most die before they can reach the retailers. Without professional care, most die soon after they are sold. Those that do survive are unlikely to breed successfully. Status and threats: Some members of the Family Pomacentridae are listed among the threatened animals of Singapore. Like other creatures of the intertidal zone, they are affected by human activities such as reclamation and pollution. Poaching by hobbyists and overfishing can also have an impact on local populations. |
 Tiny anemonefish in its host anemone. Sentosa, Jun 07  Juvenile damselfishes can look very different from the adults. Tanah Merah, Nov 10  Damselfishes can be abundant on some of our shores! Pulau Jong, Jul 06 |
Damselfishes on Singapore shores
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Pomacentridae recorded for Singapore from Wee Y.C. and Peter K. L. Ng. 1994. A First Look at Biodiversity in Singapore. *additions from from Ng, P. K. L. & Y. C. Wee, 1994. The Singapore Red Data Book: Threatened Plants and Animals of Singapore. in red are those listed among the threatened animals of Singapore from Davison, G.W. H. and P. K. L. Ng and Ho Hua Chew, 2008. The Singapore Red Data Book: Threatened plants and animals of Singapore.
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References
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Periplus Editions. 292 pp.|
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