Stegastes variabilis
Encyclopedia
The cocoa damselfish, stegastes variabilis, is a damselfish
of the family
Pomacentridae
, found on coral
and rocky reefs in the Caribbean Sea
and neighboring areas in the Atlantic Ocean
and Gulf of Mexico
.
Adults feed mainly on benthic
algae
but also on sponges, ascidiacea
and anemone
s while juvenile feed on invertebrates such as harpacticoid copepod
s and nemerteans
.
Damselfish
Damselfish comprise the family Pomacentridae except those of the genera Amphiprion and Premnas. They can grow up to long. While most are marine, a few species inhabit the lower stretches of rivers in freshwater. Damselfish usually have bright colors. in tropical coral reefs, and many of those are...
of the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Pomacentridae
Pomacentridae
Pomacentridae are a family of perciform fish, comprising the damselfishes and clownfishes. They are primarily marine, while a few species inhabit freshwater and brackish environments . They are noted for their hardy constitutions and territoriality...
, found on coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
and rocky reefs in the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
and neighboring areas in the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
and Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
.
Adults feed mainly on benthic
Benthos
Benthos is the community of organisms which live on, in, or near the seabed, also known as the benthic zone. This community lives in or near marine sedimentary environments, from tidal pools along the foreshore, out to the continental shelf, and then down to the abyssal depths.Many organisms...
algae
Algae
Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
but also on sponges, ascidiacea
Ascidiacea
Ascidiacea is a class in the Tunicata subphylum of sac-like marine invertebrate filter feeders. Ascidians are characterized by a tough outer "tunic" made of the polysaccharide tunicin, as compared to other tunicates which are less rigid.Ascidians are found all over the world, usually in shallow...
and anemone
Anemone
Anemone , is a genus of about 120 species of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae in the north and south temperate zones...
s while juvenile feed on invertebrates such as harpacticoid copepod
Copepod
Copepods are a group of small crustaceans found in the sea and nearly every freshwater habitat. Some species are planktonic , some are benthic , and some continental species may live in limno-terrestrial habitats and other wet terrestrial places, such as swamps, under leaf fall in wet forests,...
s and nemerteans
Nemertea
Nemertea is a phylum of invertebrate animals also known as "ribbon worms" or "proboscis worms". Alternative names for the phylum have included Nemertini, Nemertinea and Rhynchocoela. Although most are less than long, one specimen has been estimated at , which would make it the longest animal ever...
.
External links
- Cocoa damselfish on Rock and Wreck Fishes of North Carolina
- ITIS page