Dascyllus melanurus
| Latin name | Dascyllus melanurus - Bleeker, 1854 |
|---|---|
| Local name | Blacktail humbug |
| Family | Pomacentridae - Dascyllus |
| Origin | Australia, Indonesia, East Pacific, Central/West Pacific |
| Max length | 8 cm (3.1") |
| Minimum volume |
200 l (53 gal) 
|
|---|---|
| Hardiness |
Hardy
|
| Suitable for aquarium |
Suitable for most aquarium
|
| Reef safe |
Always reef safe
|
| Aggressiveness | Aggressive towards other species |
| Recommended |
Microalgea (Eg. spirulina) Small crustaceans (Krill, mysis, artemia...) Zooplankton (Cyclops, pods...) |
|---|
These fish enjoy having their own territory and can be very aggressive towards most approaching fishes.
This species is happiest as a pair or in a shoal. A shoal should consist of 1 male to 5 or more females.
They can be aggressive towards each other, so in a small shoal there can be aggression towards one specimen, but this can disappear over time.
This species can change gender from female to male.
When a male is needed, a female changes sex and takes on the role.
This species likes to hide in and amongst the branches of corals, e.g. Acropora coral and
will also do well if they can find other hiding places.
These fish swim in shoals at the fish store or when newly introduced into the tank.
Some aquarists report that after a while in the aquarium, their fish stop this behavior and can then become aggressive towards each other.
Dascyllus is similar to chromis in behaviour, but not quite so colourful. They can be a little more aggressive towards other species then chromis, but some of them are reasonably peaceful in the right environment.
They can be kept in shoals, if there is enough space and stony corals with branches where they can hide.
Clown-/Damselfish (Pomacentridae) can be divided into three groups as described below.
Clown-/Anemonefish (Amphiprioninae) are characterised in that they spend most of their time in an anemone. They can be kept outside of one and sometimes will find another coral to hide in. This can be Hammercoral, Xenia or similar. Clownfish exhibit fascinating social behaviour, especially when carrying eggs. This is even more interesting when kept with an anemone or a substitute.
They go normally in pairs and most are easy to keep in aquaria. Clownfish can easily be kept in small tanks, as they do not swim around a lot.
It is important to have a male and female or two males to one female, as two females do not tolerate each other. When one acquires two fish of very different size or two small individuals, it is likely they will become a pair.
When setting up a reef aquarium, Clownfish are the obvious choice. They can be aggressive towards other kinds of fish, but mainly when these get too close to their hiding place. They do tend to get more aggressive when they have an anemone or when carrying eggs.
Most of Clownfish are of the Amphiprion genus, but there is a single species in the Premnas genus.
Chromis (Chrominae) encompass the genera, Acanthochromis, Altrichthys, Chromis, Azurina and Dascyllus, but when talking about Chromis it is normally understood to mean the fish of the Chromis genus specifically.
Fish in the Chromis genus are not as hardy as the Clown or Damselfish, but are very attractive with their shiny blue and green colour nuances. Overall the fish in this group are less aggressive than many others in this family and are often seen in shoals. They do become more aggressive when pairing or laying eggs.
Fish in this group live mainly on zooplankton and must be fed frequently, if possible several times a day.
Some in this group are often seen hiding in stony corals e.g. Acropora, but some species may look for shelter in anemones.
Damselfish (Pomacentrinae and Lepidozyginae) are typically hardy, very attractive, but very territorial. Some species are very coulorful when young, but become dull over time.
They live typically of a mixture of zooplankton and algae, some live more on algae and some on zooplankton. Some Damselfish even cultivate their preferred algae in a small "garden", so they have their own foodsource. This does explain their aggression towards other fish and invertebrates, which want to eat their algae.
Because of their territorial behaviour it is best to keep only one Damselfish per aquarium, unless it is a very large tank. One should consider not acquiring Damselfish, if at a later stage very peaceful or docile fish will be kept, as it is almost impossible to catch them, without removing rocks from the tank. Sometimes it is possible to entice them to hide somewhere, where they can be caught, i.e. a hollow stone. In a large aquarium where a Damselfish has its own territorium, this is a much smaller problem.
Damsels are placed in the genera; Abudefduf, Amblyglyphidodon, Amblypomacentrus, Cheiloprion, Chrysiptera, Dischistodus, Hemiglyphidodon, Hypsypops, Lepidozygus, Mecaenichthys, Microspathodon, Neoglyphidodon, Neopomacentrus, Nexilosus, Parma, Plectroglyphidodon, Pomacentrus, Pomachromis, Pristotis, Similiparma, Stegastes and Teixeirichthys.
| Aquarium trade | Yes |
|---|---|
| Distribution | Western Pacific: Sumatra to Vanuatu, north to the Ryukyu Islands, south to New Caledonia. Recently recorded from Tonga (Ref. 53797). |
| Danish common names |
Sorthalet jomfrufisk |
| English common names |
Fourstripe damselfish Black-tail dascyllus Black-tailed footballer Blacktail humbug |
Steven Pro. 2005. Tiny (and one not so tiny) Terrors of the Sea: Damsels of the Genus Dascyllus - Reefkeeping Magazine - (English)
Scott W. Michael. 2008. Damselfishes & Anemonefishes (Reef Fishes) - TFH Publications / Microcosm Ltd. - (English)
James W. Fatherree. 2011. Aquarium Fish: Damselfishes and Chromises: the Good and the Bad - Advanced Aquarist - (English)
Bob Fenner. The Damsel and Anemonefishes, Family Pomacentridae - Wet Web Media - (English)