The Garibaldi, known historically also as the Catalina goldfish and marine goldfish and now commonly as the Garibaldi damselfish (''Hypsypops rubicundus'') 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 appropriat ...
of bright orange fish in the
damselfish family. It occurs in the
subtropical
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north a ...
northeastern part of the Pacific Ocean. The English name, Garibaldi, is based on an Italian surname and is a reference to the Italian general and political figure
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, pa ...
, whose followers often wore a characteristic
scarlet or
red shirt. As is the case in all damselfish, male Garibaldis aggressively defend the nest site after the female lays eggs.
Description
Adult fish in this species are orange in color. It is the largest member of the
damselfish family and can grow up to in length. Juveniles are more reddish, and have many small iridescent blue spots, which they lose as they become adult. Adult Garibaldis also have a more opaque tail and dorsal fin. The Garibaldi is the official marine
state fish of California and is protected in Californian coastal waters.
California State Library - History and Culture - State Symbols
/ref>
File:Garibaldi, Catalina Island, Channel Islands, California.jpg
File:Garibaldi Damsel.jpg
File:Garibaldi fish closeup.jpg
File:JuvGaribaldi.jpg
Distribution and habitat
Garibaldis are found in water from a depth of up to depth, usually in association with rock reefs, and typically over rocky sea-bottoms.Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...
, ranging from Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area and its major city at the south of the bay, San Jose. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by ...
, California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, to Guadalupe Island, Baja California
Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...
.[
]
Behavior
Garibaldis feed mainly on 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 chorda ...
s,[ which they remove from the rocks. Like most damselfish, adult Garibaldis maintain a home ]territory
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
.[ The male clears a sheltered nest site within his territory; the female then deposits eggs within the nest. The male guards the nest area until the eggs hatch, which takes 19–21 days. During the time period that the eggs are developing, the male Garibaldi aggressively tries to keep all other fish away from the (very edible) eggs, and will boldly attack much larger swimming creatures, including humans, to the point of biting divers in order to try to drive them away from the area where the eggs are deposited.
]
In aquarium
It is peaceful during the juvenile period. But as long as the body is slightly larger, it will show territorial rights to other meek fish and compete with other small fish for territory.[Youtube <> Creatures section, Damselfish - Author:Sublanding Fish 020-06-19/ref>
]
References
External links
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*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1338609
Pomacentridae
Fauna of California
Fauna of the Baja California Peninsula
Symbols of California
Fish described in 1854
Taxa named by Charles Frédéric Girard
Giuseppe Garibaldi