Pomacentrus amboinensis

Ambon damsel | Pallid Damsel-fish
Pomacentrus amboinensis
Pomacentrus amboinensis, adult, Great Barrier Reef, Cairns, QLD, Photo: Andrew Green
Pomacentrus amboinensis
Pomacentrus amboinensis, Aceh, Indonesia, Photo: Ian Shaw
Pomacentrus amboinensis
Pomacentrus amboinensis, juvenile, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Pomacentrus amboinensis
Pomacentrus amboinensis, adult, Northern Great Barrier Reef, Photo: Joe Shields
Pomacentrus amboinensis
Pomacentrus amboinensis, juvenile, Northern Great Barrier Reef, Photo: Joe Shields
Pomacentrus amboinensis
Pomacentrus amboinensis, adult, Northern Great Barrier Reef, Photo: Joe Shields
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Pomacentrus amboinensis
Pomacentrus amboinensis
Pomacentrus amboinensis
Pomacentrus amboinensis
Pomacentrus amboinensis
Pomacentrus amboinensis

Distribution

Tropical Indo-Pacific


Description

Yellow body, small dark earspot and slightly larger spot at pectoral fin base. Usually with blue or purple lines on face and sometimes spots on body. Large ocellus on rear dorsal fin of juveniles disappears with age. Yellow body often pale and/or tinged with blue or purple. Most common damselfish on many sheltered reefs. Also very common P. moluccensis (lemon damsel) is brighter and has more solid yellow colour on tail and fins. P. amboinensis can also be identified by its behaviour as it usually lives at the foot of the reef over sand and rubble rather than live coral.


Information

Max Size: 9 cm

Sea Temperature Range: 21.3-31.2°C

Depth: 2-40m

Habitat Generalization Index: 10.68

Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.


Conservation and Rarity

IUCN Status: Not Evaluated

Occurrence: Common (35.1% of sites)

Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed

Abundance: Many (37 per transect)

Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.