Pomacentridae

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clownfish and damselfish
Cocoa damselfish, Stegastes variabilis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Perciformes Family: Pomacentridae
Genera
Abudefduf Acanthochromis Altrichthys Amblyglyphidodon Amblypomacentrus Amphiprion Azurina Cheiloprion Chromis Chrysiptera Dascyllus Dischistodus Hemiglyphidodon Hypsypops Labrodascyllus Lepidozygus Mecaenichthys Microspathodon Neoglyphidodon Neopomacentrus Nexilosus Parma Plectroglyphidodon Pomacentrus Pomachromis Premnas Pristotis Stegastes Teixeirichthys

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.

[edit] External links

"Pomacentridae". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. January 2007 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2007.