Chromis Flavicauda...

triggreef

triggreef

New member
I grabbed one of these at my LFS the other day. It caught my eye in a tank of green chromis and I knew it was not supposed to be there. The LFS guy did not know what it was and said that it came in with their order of green chromis, so he gave it to me for the green chromis $5.98 price. At least this is the best I could do to ID it. My pics suck and you really can't tell what your looking at. But it basically looks exactly like the one pictured here. It goes from blue to purple and the purple is sort of like a pastel anthias type purple. Very cool I feel like I got a great grab. Never thought I'd be excited over a chromis.

http://www.fishchannel.com/saltwater-aquariums/species-info/damselfish/flashing-chromis.aspx
 
Are you sure this is the right ID? These guys almost never make it into the aquarium trade... Can you post a photo of your fish?
 
Chromis flavicauda is a rare chromis from the Atlantic. it does make its way into the trade but rarely.

japan, and a few pieces by LiveAquaria in the past are some of the more "regular" sources. at that price it is quite unlikely that it is one. they are usually quite large as well.
 
He was bigger than the green chromis he was with, I'd say about 3". I'm not positive on the id. The only other close pic I could find was the limbaughi. But mine does change from blue to purple so thats why I leaned toward flavicauda. I'll try to grab a pic but everything is blurry that I got already. I only have a cell cam.
 
These very rarely seen here in Brazil. Post a picture as thera are some yellow tail blue damsel very similar to flavicauda damsel
 
It doesn't seem like any yellow tail blue damsel to me. It has a larger eye like most chromis seem to. I did manage a decent pic. I tried probly about 100 pics before I got this one.

1203131929e_zps6fd77b8e.jpg
 
Looking side by side I'm not so sure. It looks like that dark spot by the pectoral fin on mine is a little higher. And the eye is more blue on mine. Mine does have the slight yellow at the rear of the dorsal and anal fins though. Keep in mind it is usually more purple but my phone only picks up on blue.
 
And, as I mentioned mine is more of a light purple. My camera I understand makes it look blue, but it is not blue.
 
This shows a little better just how big his eye actually is, and that little spot just above eye level above the pectoral fin, and it shows a little more of the fade of yellow from the rear of the fins and tail. It is no where near as defined as the damsels. As far as height keep in mind the pic is taken from a 45 looking down on the fish.

Maybe it some sort of hybrid mix?

1205131902_zps242500df.jpg


1205131857a_zpsaaca3510.jpg
 
Looks like Pomacentrus coelestis.

Same black spot and yellow in the fins. The amount of yellow can vary widely between individuals.

Internet search:
Three blue damsels from the Pomacentrus genus are very common in the aquarium trade and all have very similar common names that may even be interchanged in some references, including "Electric Blue Damsel" or "Neon Blue Damsel". These three damsels are the Allen's Damsel (P. alleni), the Yellow Belly Damsel (P. auriventris) and the Neon Damsel (P. coelestis). A few other less common damsels also resemble these three.

The Neon Damsel (P. coelestis) is metallic blue but is less often and more subtlety iridescent than the other two species. The tail is pale to moderately yellow, depending on the region it was collected from. The anal fin and the rear tip of the dorsal may also be yellowish.
 

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That does look close but its not purple. I did find one on a google search of it, but it is in chinese so I have no idea what the page says but this is how mine looks, only a much higher quality picture than I can provide.

006491.jpg


and the chinese page in case theres anyone that can translate, I do see the Pomacentrus coelestis above the pic. Oh well guess it was just a variation of a common blue damsel.... :) http://zukan.com/fish/leaf6491
 
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Caribbean blue tang. You can find them on liveaquaria now and then but not often. It is the ancanthrus family even though it looks way more like a kole tang.

The adult version is my avatar. Mine still sports the juvi colors.
 
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