The sergeant major or píntano (''Abudefduf saxatilis'') is a species of

damselfish Damselfish are those within the subfamilies Abudefdufinae, Chrominae, Lepidozyginae, Pomacentrinae, and Stegastenae within the family Pomacentridae. Most species within this group are relatively small, with the largest species being about 30 ...

. It grows to a maximum length of about .

Distribution and habitat

''Abudefduf saxatilis'' is found in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. Populations in the western part of the

are found from the north eastern coast of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

south to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

, the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

, islands around the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

, the eastern coast of

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

all the way to

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. In the eastern

, they are found from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

, the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

, and western

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. Its distribution remains unclear in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

due to possible confusion with Abudefduf vaigiensis and Abudefduf troschelii.Atlas of Exotic Fishes in the Mediterranean Sea (Abudefduf saxatilis). 2nd Edition. 2021. 366p. CIESM Publishers, Paris, Monaco.https://ciesm.org/atlas/fishes_2nd_edition/Abudefduf_saxatilis.pdf Juveniles are common in

tide pools A tide pool or rock pool is a shallow pool of seawater that forms on the rocky intertidal shore. Many of these pools exist as separate bodies of water only at low tide. Many tide pool habitats are home to especially adaptable animals that ...

while adults are found over

coral reefs A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of Colony (biology), colonies of coral polyp (zoology), polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, wh ...

. Sergeant majors are found at depths of .

Description

Adults can grow up to at maximum length. Normally, they would grow up to . The largest recorded specimen weighed had a weight of up to . ''Abudefduf saxatilis'' has 13 dorsal spines, 12 to 13 dorsal soft rays, 2 anal spines, and 10 to 12 anal soft rays. This fish is white with a yellow top. It has 5 vertical stripes which are black. A faint sixth stripe might be present on the caudal peduncle. Adult males have a more bluish coloration and its stripes are less visible. There is a dark spot around its pectoral fin.

Ecology

Diet

This fish feeds upon the

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e of

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

zooplankton Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...

, smaller fish,

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

s, and various species of

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...

. It is also known to feed on the waste and vomit of

spinner dolphin The spinner dolphin (''Stenella longirostris'') is a small dolphin found in off-shore tropical waters around the world. It is famous for its acrobatic displays in which it rotates around its longitudinal axis as it leaps through the air. It is a ...

Behavior

Individuals of this species form

shoals In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It o ...

of about several hundred individuals. Sometimes, they get cleaned of parasites by fish species such as gobies in the genus '' Gobiosoma'', ''

Bodianus rufus The Spanish hogfish, ''Bodianus rufus'', is a species of wrasse native to the western Atlantic Ocean, where it can be found from North Carolina and Bermuda through the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico to southern Brazil. It inhabits coral or ro ...

'', ''

Elacatinus figaro ''Elacatinus figaro'', the barber goby or yellow line goby, is a colourful species of marine goby, family Gobiidae, from the southwestern Atlantic, where it is endemic to the coastal waters of Brazil. Description ''E. figaro'' is dark in colour ...

'', and '' Thalassoma noronhanum''. Sergeant majors also clean

green sea turtle The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...

s along with ''

Acanthurus chirurgus ''Acanthurus chirurgus'', commonly called doctorfish or doctorfish tang in English and ''barbero rayado'' or ''cirujano rayado'' in Spanish, is a tropical marine fish common in the Atlantic Ocean. Description Reaching a maximum size of and , ''A ...

'' and ''

Acanthurus coeruleus ''Acanthurus coeruleus'' is a surgeonfish found commonly in the Atlantic Ocean. It can grow up to long.Figueiredo, J.L. and N.A. Menezes, (2000). ''Manual de peixes marinhos do sudeste do Brasil. VI. Teleostei (5)''. Museu de Zoologia, Universid ...

''.

Predators

Predators of this fish include ''

Plectropomus leopardus The leopard coral grouper (''Plectropomus leopardus''), also known as the common coral trout, leopard coral trout, blue-dotted coral grouper or spotted coral grouper, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephel ...

'', ''

Thalassoma bifasciatum ''Thalassoma bifasciatum'', the bluehead, bluehead wrasse or blue-headed wrasse, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a wrasse from the family Labridae. It is native to the coral reefs of the tropical waters of the western Atlantic Ocean. ...

'', '' Cephalopholis cruentata'', '' Epinephelus striatus'', '' Mycteroperca venenosa'', and ''

Rachycentron canadum The cobia (''Rachycentron canadum'') is a species of carangiform marine fish, the only extant representative of the genus ''Rachycentron'' and the family Rachycentridae. Other common names include black kingfish, black salmon, ling, lemonfis ...

''.

In the aquarium

They are found in the aquarium trade but are regarded as difficult to breed.

Reproduction

The sergeant major is an oviparous species in which the males create nests on rocks, reef outcrops, shipwrecks, and pilings where the females lay their egg masses. The males actively chase the females in courtship before the female releases approximately 200,000 ref, ovoid eggs which are attached to the substrate by a filament; the eggs turn greenish after a few days and are guarded by the male. As he guards the eggs the male becomes bluish in colour, guarding them for about a week.

Etymology

Sergeant majors earn their name from their brightly striped sides, known as bars, which are reminiscent of the insignia of a military

sergeant major Sergeant major is a senior non-commissioned rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. History In 16th century Spain, the ("sergeant major") was a general officer. He commanded an army's infantry, and ranked about third in the ...

References

External links

* * Video o
Sergeant-Major
- Video taken in Belize off Ambergris Caye. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2070648

Sergeant major (fish) The sergeant major or píntano (''Abudefduf saxatilis'') is a species of damselfish. It grows to a maximum length of about . Distribution and habitat ''Abudefduf saxatilis'' is found in the Atlantic Ocean. Populations in the western part of the ...

Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fish described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus