Goldhead Damselfish
Pomacentrus aurifrons Allen, 2004
Also calledCastagnola testa dorata (ita) · Damigella testa dorata (ita) · Damisel·la de cap daurat (cat) · Damita de cabeza dorada (spa) · Donzela-de-cabeça-dourada (por) · Poisson-demoiselle à front jaune (fra)
First described in: Allen, G. R. (2004). Pomacentrus aurifrons, a new species of damselfish (Pomacentridae) from Melanesia. <em>Zootaxa.</em> 399: 1-7.
Pomacentrus aurifrons, the yellowhead damselfish, is a species of ray-finned fish from the family Pomacentridae, the damselfishes and clownfishes. It is found in the western Pacific Ocean.
Descriptions from checklists and floras indexed by GBIF
distribution
Distribution and habitat. New Ireland: 1, 2. — General distribution: Papua New Guinea to Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Fringing and patch reefs, 2 – 14 m depth. Marine.
Checklist of the marine and estuarine fishes of New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea, western Pacific Ocean, with 810 new records
materials_examined
Status at New Ireland. New record from New Hanover, based on specimens photographed at St. KVG 29 (southeast of New Hanover) by Serge Andréfouët on 24 Aug. 2014; a video of a specimen taken at northwestern Manne Island, Kavieng District, at 3 – 12 m depth, St. KR 14, in 2014 (identified by Barry C. Russell).
Checklist of the marine and estuarine fishes of New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea, western Pacific Ocean, with 810 new records
biology_ecology
Pomacentrus aurifrons is relatively common on coastal fringing reefs and offshore platform reefs at depths between 2 - 14 m. The substrate generally consists of mixed sponge, soft corals, and branching hard corals. This fish is usually seen in groups that swim a short distance above the coral, apparently feeding on zooplankton.
Pomacentrus aurifrons, a new species of damselfish (Pomacentridae) from Melanesia.
description
Description. Dorsal rays XIII, 12; anal rays II, 13; all dorsal and anal soft rays branched, the last to base; pectoral rays 17 (16 - 17), the upper and lowermost 2 unbranched; pelvic rays I, 5; principal caudal rays 15, the median 13 branched; upper and lower procurrent caudal rays 4, the posterior pair segmented; scales in longitudinal series 28; tubed lateral-line scales of holotype 15 on left side and 16 on right (14 - 17); posterior midlateral scales with a pore or deep pit (in continuous series) 8 (8 - 9); scales above lateral line to base of middle dorsal spine 1.5; scales below lateral line to origin of anal fin 9; gill rakers 7 + 13 (6 - 7 + 12 - 15), total rakers 20 (19 - 22). Body ovate, the depth 2.1 (1.9 - 2.0) in SL, and compressed, the width 2.3 (2.5 - 2.8) in body depth; HL 3.4 (3.2 - 3.4) in SL; dorsal and ventral profile of head evenly rounded from dorsal and pelvic fin origins to snout; snout shorter than orbit, its length 3.8 (4.0 - 4.5) in HL; orbit diameter 3.2 (3.0 - 3.7) in HL; interorbital space convex, its width 2.9 (2.8 - 3.2) in HL; caudal-peduncle depth 2.0 (1.9 - 2.2) in HL; caudal-peduncle length 2.3 (1.8 - 2.4) in HL. Mouth terminal, small, and obliq
Pomacentrus aurifrons, a new species of damselfish (Pomacentridae) from Melanesia.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
This species in particular is a fish from the coral reefs of Papua New Guinea. Pomacentrus aurifrons resembles Pomacentrus smithi with a similar color scheme and physiology, and are believed to be geminate species. According to Allen, P. aurifrons can be distinguished by its "pale grey to nearly white with blue spot on head scales, vertically elongate, blue streak on most body scales, broad zone of yellow encompassing snout, forehead, and base of anterior dorsal spines, translucent fins with bluish dorsal, anal, and caudal soft rays, and narrow yellow margin on spinous dorsal fin,". In Latin, auri means "gold" and frons means "forehead".
What it does
Pomacentrus aurifrons spend the majority of their time in coral reefs at a depth of about 2–14 m and live in groups. The coastal fringing reefs and offshore platform reefs they live on are generally composed of a variety of different sponge and both hard and soft coral. They feed on zooplankton.
In the stacks
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Every page naming Pomacentrus aurifrons in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
From the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence records (GBIF.org), with Wikipedia and the Source Library. GBIF species 2398322.