''Dascyllus reticulatus'', known commonly as the reticulate dascyllus or two-stripe damselfish among other vernacular names, is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of marine
fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...
in the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
Pomacentridae
Pomacentridae is a family of ray-finned fish, comprising the damselfishes and clownfishes. This family were formerly placed in the order Perciformes but are now regarded as being ''incertae sedis'' in the subseries Ovalentaria in the clade Perco ...
.
Reticulate dascyllus is widespread throughout the
tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
waters of the central
Indo-Pacific
The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth.
In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...
region.
[
]
Description
A small marine fish that reaches in length. It is grey with two vertical stripes, and a blue-green tail.
In the aquarium
''Dascyllus melanurus'' is a hardy member of a saltwater aquarium. Because of this and its usually low price it may be recommended as a way for novice marine aquarium keepers to gain experience in the hobby. is typically quoted as the minimum tank size required to permanently house this fish.
It is an aggressive fish, even when compared to many damselfish, and will often harass similarly sized fish. It is also territorial with members of its own species, and with new additions to a tank. This will often make it difficult to add other small fish to an aquarium. It is however reef safe and will not harm invertebrates. Despite its hardy nature care should be taken when placing one with larger predatory fish such as lion fish, and grouper which may eat it. As an adult, however, its aggressive nature will often protect it from any fish that cannot fit it in its mouth.
It is very similar to Dascyllus carneus. They have similar behavior in aquarium tank. As it grows up, it will become very aggressive. They chase small peaceful fishes but avoid to provoke ferocious fishes.[Youtube <> Creatures section, Damselfish - Author:Sublanding Fish]020-06-19
The hyphen-minus is the most commonly used type of hyphen, widely used in digital documents. It is the only character that looks like a minus sign or a dash in many character sets such as ASCII or on most keyboards, so it is also used as such. ...
/ref>
References
*http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=212844
liveaquaria.com Page on Two Stripe Damselfish
External links
*
reticulatus
Fish described in 1846
{{Pomacentridae-stub