''Stegastes partitus'' or the bicolor damselfish is a species of bony fish in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Pomacentridae found near the sea bed on shallow rocky and

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

s in 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

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an 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 United ...

and off the coasts of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

.''Stegastes partitus'' (Poey, 1868)
FishBase. Retrieved 2011-12-31.

Description

The bicolor damselfish can grow to about . The head and the front half of the body are dark grey or black and the rear half is pale, usually with some yellow, with regional variations in the coloring. The large dorsal fin has 12 spines and 14-17 soft rays. The anal fin is also large and has two spines and 13-15 soft rays.

Behaviour

Unlike most other members of the genus ''

Stegastes ''Stegastes'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Pomacentridae. Members of this genus are marine coastal fishes except for ''S. otophorus'', which also occurs in brackish water. These fish are known by the names of damselfish, gregory a ...

'' which eat

filamentous 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 micr ...

, the bicolor damselfish feeds on

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a crucia ...

. It forms loose groups of up to twenty individuals and defends a territory over a rocky reef with plenty of crevices in which to lurk.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1993753 partitus Fish described in 1868 Fish of the Atlantic Ocean