Fun Dusky Damselfish Facts For Kids

The dusky damselfish (Stegastes nigricans) is a species of damselfish of family Pomacentridae, found around coral reefs with rocky bottoms at a depth of 0-39.3 ft (0-12 m) in tropical climates between 30°S and 30°N. They are known for farming monocultures of algae such as Cyanophores and Rhodophytes.

Dusky damselfish stegastes is a non-migratory, reef associated species that ranges from Florida to Venezuela. Chasing and producing sounds such as 'chirping' and 'popping' at intruders are the weapons of choice for damselfishes.

The dusky damselfish Stegastes are found in shallow reefs within the surge zone at depth up to 65 ft (20 m) but normally at depths of less than 20 ft (6 m). This fish distribution can be found in Florida, the Bahamas and the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean.

The dusky damselfish stegastes are found to be dark olive-brown to almost black with a pale olive area behind the head.

Faint dark bands on the body are also found and there is a dark spot on the dorsal fin and one on the base of the tail, both ringed in white to pale blue. As a small fish, they cannot swim to a great depth underwater.

For more relatable content, check out these channel catfish facts and rockfish facts for kids.

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Dusky Damselfish Interesting Facts

What type of animal is a dusky damselfish?

The dusky damselfish is a type of fish. Some other types of fish are spotted catfish and red tail catfish.

What class of animal does a dusky damselfish belong to?

Dusky damselfish stegastes is of class Actinopterygii found in phylum Chordata.

How many dusky damselfishes are there in the world?

The total population of this fish is unknown.

Where does a dusky damselfish live?

The dusky damselfish stegastes range is most frequently found across the coast of East Africa and the dusky damselfish territorial distribution is around Madagascar in the British Indian Ocean Territory and the southern coasts of India across Southeast Asia, the northern coast of Australia and Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.

What is a dusky damselfish's habitat?

The dusky damselfish range is shallow reefs and rocky bottoms. Adults also consume hydroids, sponges, and eggs of other fish. They are territorial and pugnaciously chase away intruders.

Their natural environment is in tropical coral, shallow reef and they are lively and active fish. The dusky damselfish stegastes is a resident of Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean and are found throughout the Gulf of Mexico. The dusky damselfish distribution includes dusky damselfish in Belize and dusky damselfish roatan of the Caribbean.

Who do dusky damselfishes live with?

Dusky damselfish (Stegastes adustus) can be kept generally in groups of the same species of damselfish but the dusky damselfish wild behavior and nature makes it quite risky to mix them with other species.

How long does a dusky damselfish live?

The Stegastes adustus dusky damselfish has a life span of five to six years. Many can live longer for up to eight to 10 years when they are in their proper habitat. They mostly reside in Florida, the Caribbean Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean.

How do they reproduce?

Dusky damselfish stegastes are oviparous and follow a distinct breeding pair relationship between males and females. Eggs are distributed demersal and adhere to the substrate due to their stickiness.

Damselfish have oval robust compressed bodies with a depth of standard length. Spawning may occur throughout the year and has been reported in January, June, and September.

Male damselfish produce pulsed sounds during breeding and exhibit aggressive behaviors, while females appear to only produce sounds associated with aggression.

A dusky damselfish juvenile often occupies the same habitat as adults but appear markedly different in coloration, displaying red-orange fading to a dullish blue in contrast to the dark olive-brown adult coloration. The largest dusky damselfish juvenile grows rapidly and replaces the dominant male.

Dusky damselfish stegastes are not monogamous and so the male reproduces with several females during the breeding period.

What is their conservation status?

The dusky damselfish are social blue fish and they have been give the status of Least Concern by the IUCN Red List. They are classic nibblers, thus difficult to catch by hook and line.

Dusky Damselfish Fun Facts

What do dusky damselfishes look like?

Dusky damselfish adult fishes are uniformly gray-brown in color, including their body, fins, and anal fin. Juveniles are similarly colored but with a red-brown cap on the nape of their neck and upper edge of their body.

Their body length is around 3.5-5.5 in (9-14 cm). They have blue spotted lines on their head and upper front of their body.

Also, there is a large black-blue ringed ocellus on the lower part of their dorsal fins and upper body adjacent to their dorsal spines.

An adult's head has a small protractible mouth that opens in the front with a single row of teeth. The edge of their anal fin has two spines and 13-15 rays.

This fish's caudal fin is bluntly forked with bluntly rounded lobes and their dorsal fin has 12 spines and 14-17 rays. Their anal and dorsal fins are short and blunt and do not reach past the caudal fin base.

The dusky damselfish stegastes has nine to 10 gill rakers on their lower arch. The fish's body is covered with large rough scales and their lateral line is incomplete and ends under the edge of their dorsal fin base.

Juveniles often occupy the same habitat as adults but appear markedly different in coloration, displaying red-orange fading to a dullish blue in contrast to the dark olive-brown adult coloration. A dusky damselfish juvenile is pearly gray with blue spots on the top of its head.

Juveniles, especially in the territorial bottom-dwellers, often possess different, brighter colors. The fish has a large, blue-rimmed, black eye spot and a smaller, similarly colored eyespot on the caudal peduncle.

How cute are they?

The description of dusky damselfish stegastes cuteness can be given due to their colorful appearance which makes them cute. Even if they only have black and white stripes, small length fins and spots can be attractive. Again, many also stay relatively small in length, even when fully grown which is desirable.

How do they communicate?

The dusky damselfish stegastes uses a variety of visual, olfactory, tactile, and auditory cues to communicate in different situations. Chemical cues from some damselfishes may encourage conspecific juveniles to establish nearby territorial  and may discourage other groups of damselfish from settling.

How big is a dusky damselfish?

A dusky damselfish stegastes is between 3.5-5.5 in (9-14 cm) in length which is 10 times larger than a ghost moth.

How fast can a dusky damselfish swim?

The swimming speed of this fish is unknown, but their speed is believed to be similar to a clownfish .

How much does a dusky damselfish weigh?

A dusky damselfish stegastes weighs 0.007-0.088 lb (3.24 - 40.2 1 g).

What are their male and female names of the species?

There are no name differences for a male and female of this species.

What would you call a baby dusky damselfish?

Dusky damselfish (Stegastes adustus) are called the same as dusky damselfish stegastes adults.

What do they eat?

Dusky damselfish eat algae and filamentous algae but some calcareous algae is also eaten. The rest of their diet consists of small invertebrates.

The feeding activities of damselfish prevent coarser seaweeds. Stegastes adustus dusky damselfish also eat plankton such as the large orange garibaldi, which inhabits the coast of southern California, the Atlantic, and the Pacific Mexican coast.

Depending on the species of this genus and also remembering the size and length, they feed around one to two times a day in small amounts. These damselfish move in search of food and sometimes eat seafood which should be mentioned in their diet description.

Are they dangerous?

The dusky damselfish also has a dark side as it is quite dangerous in nature. Even though these fishes are not big in length, they are aggressive when protecting their nests or territorial. They attack large and potentially dangerous intruders.

Would they make a good pet?

Dusky damselfish stegastes are capable of being kept as a pet as they remain small and can be housed in small to medium sized aquariums. However, they should be kept in large sized aquariums so they do not harm other fishes.

Did you know...

Dusky damselfish stegastes are found in the Atlantic, the Caribbean and Florida waters.

Why is it called a dusky damselfish?

Dusky damselfish has three spots and lives in coral reefs in the Caribbean Sea. Individuals have a series of spots on their bodies and just in front of the tail fin that fade or become darker at different stages throughout their lives.

How do you distinguish dusky from longfin damselfish?

Dusky vs. longfin damselfish can be distinguished by the shorter, less angular dorsal and anal fins. The maximum length is 5.9 in (15 cm), but 3.9 in (10 cm) is a more typical length.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other fish from our bonito fish facts and koi facts pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable dusky damselfish coloring pages.