Dascyllus

Dascyllus is a genus of fish in the family Pomacentridae. They are usually commensals with corals.^[2][1][3]

Dascyllus
Dascyllus aruanus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Blenniiformes
Family:	Pomacentridae
Subfamily:	Chrominae
Genus:	Dascyllus G. Cuvier, 1829
Type species
Chaetodon aruanus Linnaeus, 1758[1]
Synonyms
Pirene Gistel, 1848 Tetradrachmum Cantor, 1850 Pellochromis Fowler and Bean, 1928 Semadascyllus Fowler, 1941

Taxonomy

Three species complexes have been proposed: the D. aruanus complex (D. aruanus, D. abudafur, D. melanurus),^[4][5] the D. trimaculatus complex (D. trimaculatus, D. albisella, D. auripinnis, D. strasburgi), and the D. reticulatus complex (D. reticulatus, D. carneus, D. marginatus, D. flavicaudus). However, only the D. aruanus complex and the D. trimaculatus complex are monophyletic.^[6][5] The species of the D. aruanus complex are the most basal in the genus Dascyllus.^[5]

Biology

Species of the genus Dascyllus are found in the Indo-West Pacific, and are primarily planktivorous.^[5]

The species of the D. trimaculatus complex are the largest in size, growing up to 90–110 mm (SL). All other species are smaller, reaching 50–65 mm (SL), with the exception of D. flavicaudus, which reaches 90 mm (SL).^[5]

Juvenile D. trimaculata hosting Stichodactyla haddoni.

The D. trimaculatus complex is strongly associated with sea anemones as juveniles.^[6][7][8] Some and potentially all species in the D. trimaculatus group are gonochoristic, but all other species are protogynous (ie, females can change sex and become males as they grow older or larger). It is likely that protogyny arose once in the common ancestor of the genus Dascyllus, which was then lost in the ancestor of the D. trimaculatus complex. All Dascyllus species are demersal spawners, and in all species, the female lays her eggs in nests prepared by a male, and the eggs are tended by the male until hatching.^[5]

Species

Currently, 11 recognized species are placed in this genus:

Species	Common name	Image
Dascyllus abudafur (Forsskål, 1775)[9]	Indian Ocean humbug
Dascyllus albisella T. N. Gill, 1862	Hawaiian dascyllus
Dascyllus aruanus (Linnaeus, 1758)	Whitetail dascyllus
Dascyllus auripinnis J. E. Randall & H. A. Randall, 2001[10]	Golden domino dascyllus
Dascyllus carneus J. G. Fischer, 1885	Cloudy dascyllus
Dascyllus flavicaudus H. A. Randall & G. R. Allen, 1977[1]	Yellowtail dascyllus
Dascyllus marginatus (Rüppell, 1829)	Marginate dascyllus
Dascyllus melanurus Bleeker, 1854	Blacktail humbug
Dascyllus reticulatus (J. Richardon, 1846)	Reticulate dascyllus
Dascyllus strasburgi Klausewitz, 1960[11]	Strasburg's dascyllus
Dascyllus trimaculatus (Rüppell, 1829)	Threespot dascyllus

Trivia

Deb, a character in the animated film Finding Nemo, is a damselfish of genus Dascyllus.^[12]