Pomacentridae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
iClownfish and damselfish | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cocoa damselfish, Stegastes variabilis
|
||||||||||
Scientific classification | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Abudefduf |
Pomacentridae (New Latin, from Greek "poma" operculum + "kentron" sting) is a family of perciform fish, comprising the damselfishes and clownfishes. They are exclusively marine (rarely brackish), and noted for their hardy constitutions and territoriality. Many are brightly coloured, so they are popular in aquaria.
Around 360 species are classified in this family, in approximately 28 genera. Of these, members of two genera, Amphiprion and Premnas are commonly called clownfish or anemonefish, while members of other genera (e.g. Chromis) are commonly called damselfish.