Name: Dark Damsel
Local name: Ge'easi
Scientific name: Pomacentrus aquilus
Classification: Class: ray-finned fishes; Order: perch-likes; Family: damselfishes (Pomacentridae)
Size: It attains a maximum length of 10 cm.
Habitat:
The Dark Damsel inhabits coral areas and rocky reefs, from very shallow water above the reef flat down to 15 m depth. It occurs as solitary, territorial individuals, and is oviparous with distinct pairing during breeding. Eggs are demersal, adhere to the substrate and are guarded and aerated by the male.
Distribution:
The species occurs in the Western Indian Ocean, from the Red Sea and eastern Africa in the west, to the Arabian Gulf in the east.
Conservation status:
It has not yet been assessed globally by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In a recent regional assessment for the Arabian Gulf it was classified as Endangered (EN), because of declining coral areas.
Description:
The body is moderately deep and compressed; the mouth small and terminal. The caudal fin is forked. Large adults are dark greyish brown to blackish, the scale edges are black, and there is a black spot mid-dorsally on the caudal peduncle. Juveniles of about 3 cm in length are yellow with two narrow bright blue stripes dorsally and a large blue-edged black spot at juncture of spinous and soft portions of the dorsal fin. There is a small blue-edged black spot on the caudal peduncle.
