Lagoon Damsel (species: Hemiglyphidodon plagiometopon) in Lizard Island Field Guide (Lizard Island Field Guide)
Lizard Island Field Guide > Marine Life > Bony fishes > Pomacentridae > Hemiglyphidodon plagiometopon (gallery)
Hemiglyphidodon plagiometopon
Lagoon Damsel


©Rick Stuart-Smith: Hemiglyphidodon plagiometopon, Lizard Island area.

©Graham Edgar: A juvenile Hemiglyphidodon plagiometopon at Watson's Bay, Lizard Island.

©Makeely Blandford: Likely a transitioning Hemiglyphidodon plagiometopon in the Lizard Island lagoon off Ghost Beach, South Iland. Id by Makeely Blandford based on proximity to adults of that species.

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Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Actinopterygii
Order Perciformes
Family Pomacentridae
Genus Hemiglyphidodon
Species Hemiglyphidodon plagiometopon

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Lizard Island Field Guide
Lizard Island area: all known taxa

Colours

                   

Distinguishing features

Adults are brown all over, or paler at the front graduating to brown at the rear. Juveniles dark with blue lines on the head, grading to orange/brown at rear with an ocellated dark spot at the rear of the dorsal fin. Algal farmers.

Size

  • Up to 18 cm (length according to Allen et al (2003).)

Depth range

  • Depth range data is not yet available.

Synonyms

Comments

Hemiglyphidodon plagiometopon are territorial algal farming damselfish that feed primarily on detritus collected on the long algal strands in the farm.

They don't seem to have been affected by the decline in coral cover and are now one of the more commonly seen large dark brown damsefish around the lagoonal areas at Lizard. - Andy Lewis, June 2017.

by Anne Hoggett

Distribution


©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution

Web resources

References

  • Barneche, D.R., S.R. Floeter, D.M. Ceccarelli, D.M.B. Fresnel, D.F. Dinslaken, H.F.S. Mario and C.E.L. Ferreira (2009). Feeding macroecology of territorial damselfishes (Perciformes: Pomacentridae), Marine Biology, 156: 289-299. LIRS catalog number 1252.
  • Ceccarelli, D.M., M.J. Emslie and Z.T. Richards (2016). Post-disturbance stability of fish assemblages measured at coarse taxonomic resolution masks change at finer scales. PLOS One, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0156232. LIRS catalog number 1971.
  • Cooper, W.J., L.L. Smith and M.W. Westneat (2009). Exploring the radiation of a diverse reef fish family: Phylogenetics of the damselfishes (Pomacentridae), with new classifications based on molecular analyses of all genera, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 52: 1-16. LIRS catalog number 1221.
  • View all references