Order : Uncertain
Family : POMACENTRIDAE
Species : Dascyllus aruanus
Maximum Length : 10 cm

The Humbug Dascyllus, or Whitetail Dascyllus, inhabits shallow lagoons, reef flats and isolated coral heads up to depths of 20 metres.

Males can be quite aggressive in defending their small territory, especially when defending their selected nesting site and protecting clutches of eggs.

This species of Dascyllus is easily recognised by its white body and three vertical, broad, black bars.

Its name derives from 'humbugs', which are boiled peppermint sweets or candies from the United Kingdom, typically striped black and white. The tail fin is pale, and the pelvic and anal fins are black.

As of 2020, there are 11 species of Dascyllus recognised.

Dascyllus aruanus occurs in eastern parts of the Southeast Asia archipelago (i.e. Philippines and eastern Indonesia, including the 'coral triangle' area of Raja Ampat), and western and central areas of the Pacific Ocean.

In western parts of Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean Dascyllus aruanus is replaced by the closely-related Dascyllus abudafur (Borsa et al, 2014).

Figs 1 and 2 : A pair of Humbug Dascyllus patrolling a small coral head in a shallow sandy lagoon in French Polynesia, central Pacific Ocean.


References : F3

Borsa, P., Sembiring, A., Fauvelot, C. & Chen, W. J. (2014). Resurrection of Indian Ocean humbug damselfish, Dascyllus abudafur (Forsskål) from synonymy with its Pacific Ocean sibling, Dascyllus aruanus (L.). Comptes Rendus Biologies, 337(12), 709-716.

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