Chromis chromis
| Chromis chromis | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Pomacentridae |
| Genus: | Chromis |
| Species: | C. chromis |
| Binomial name | |
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Chromis chromis (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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| Synonyms | |
Chromis chromis, the damselfish or Mediterranean chromis is a small species of ray-finned fish of the family Pomacentridae from the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.
Chromis chromis has an oval and laterally compressed body with an noticeably large eye. Its mouth is strongly protractile, reaching to below the centre of the eye, with cmall canine-like teeth set in 3 rows on the jaws. The preoperculum is not serrated and the anterior gill arch has 30 slender gill rakers. There are 13-14 spines and 10-11 soft rays in the dorsal fin and in the anal fin has 11 spines and 10-12 soft rays. Its body is covered in large scales, including the head, and there are 24-30 scales along the lateral line. The youngest fish are a brilliant iridescent blue in colour; older juveniles have blue stripes with the dorsal and anal fins outlined in blue while the adults are dark brown with the centres of each scale a paler golden brown or grey-brow and with the edge of the caudal fin lacking any colour, especially in the centre of the fork. The males become a vivid pale violet. There is a single pair of nostrils.
It can grow up to a size of 25 centimetres (9.8 in) in length, with a common length of 13 centimetres (5.1 in).
Chromis chromis occurs in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and eastern Atlantic, from Portugal to Angola including the Macaronesian Islands and the Gulf of Guinea Islands, appearing to be commoner off islands than off the mainland. It is uncommon in the Black Sea and Sea of Marmara.
C. chromis inhabits littoral, mainly in rocky areas from 2 to 40 metres (6.6 to 131.2 ft) in depth, in small shoals in midwater above or near rocky reefs and above sea-grass meadows.
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