Yellowspeckled Puller, Chromis alpha Randall 1988


Other Names: Alpha Chromis, Yellow-speckled Chromis, Yellow-spotted Puller

A Yellowspeckled Puller, Chromis alpha, at Tahiti, French Polynesia, Noember 2016. Source: zsispeo / Flickr. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Summary:
A bluish-grey chromis often with bluish or yellow spots or blotches, a bluish anal fin and lower side, a dusky bar on the cheek, and a dusky bar on the rear of the gill cover to the pectoral-fin base.

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2020, Chromis alpha in Fishes of Australia, accessed 29 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/1281

Yellowspeckled Puller, Chromis alpha Randall 1988

More Info


Distribution

Known from offshore reefs of north Western Australia, Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea, and the northern Great Barrier Reef, and reefs in the Coral Sea, Queensland; also Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the eastern Indian Ocean. Elsewhere the species is widespread in the tropical, west-central Pacific: Cocos (Keeling Islands) east to Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Caledonia, north to the Northern Mariana and Marshall Islands and eastwards to French Polynesia. 
Forms loose aggregations on steep outer reef slopes and drop-offs with caves and ledges, at depths to 95 m.

Features

Dorsal fin XII-XIII, 12-13;Anal fin 11, 11-13; Pectoral fin 16-18; Lateral-line scales 14-16; Gill rakers 7-9 + 19-23. 

Colour

Dark greenish on back and sides, scales edged in blackish and centres with some dull yellow blotches; ventral part of head and body greyish-blue; dorsal fin coloured like body; anal fin deep blue (blue-green anteriorly and basally); pectoral fins light grey with curved brown bar at base; pelvic fins greyish-blue; upper edge of opercle and preopercle blackish (Randall 1988).

Feeding

Feeds on zooplankton.

Etymology

The species is named alpha from the Greek alphos (= white-spotted), as from leprosy, in reference to the pale spots on the head and body. Also the name was chosen because alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. This fish was first diagnosed and illustrated by Gerald R. Allen (1975) who referred to it as Chromis sp. "A".

Species Citation

Chromis alpha Randall 1988, Mem. Mus. Vict. 49(1): 74, fig. 1. Type locality: Outside reef off western side of Rimatuu Islet, Tetiaroa Atoll, Society Islands, depth 45 m.

Author

Bray, D.J. 2020

Resources



Yellowspeckled Puller, Chromis alpha Randall 1988

References


Allen, G.R. 1975. Damselfishes of the South Seas. New Jersey : T.F.H. Publications 237 pp. 251 figs. (as Chromis sp. "A")

Allen, G.R. 1991. Damselfishes of the World. Melle, Germany : Mergus Verlag 271 pp. 

Allen, G.R. 1993. Fishes of Ashmore Reef and Cartier Island. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 44: 67-91 

Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 292 pp. 106 pls. 

Allen, G. R. 2001. Family Pomacentridae. pp. in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 6 pp. 3381-4218.

Allen, G.R. 2010. Chromis alpha. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: e.T154760A4627606. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T154760A4627606.en. Downloaded on 01 June 2016.

Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.

Allen, G.R. & Smith-Vaniz, W.F. 1994. Fishes of Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin 412: 1-21 

Allen, G.R. & Steene, R.C. 1988. Fishes of Christmas Island Indian Ocean. Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 197 pp.

Allen, G.R., Steene, R.C. & Orchard, M. 2007. Fishes of Christmas Island. Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 2 edn, 284 pp. 

Hobbs, J-P.A., Newman, S.J., Mitsopoulos, G.E.A., Travers, M.J., Skepper, C.L., Gilligan, J.J., Allen, G.R., Choat, H.J. & Ayling, A.M. 2014. Checklist and new records of Christmas Island fishes: the influence of isolation, biogeography and habitat availability on species abundance and community composition. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 30: 184–202 

Hobbs, J-P.A., Newman, S .J., Mitsopoulos, G.E.A., Travers, M.J., Skepper, C.L., Gilligan, J.J., Allen, G.R., Choat, H.J. & Ayling, A.M. 2014. Fishes of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands: new records, community composition and biogeographic significance. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 30: 203–219 

Hutchins, J.B. 2001. Biodiversity of shallow reef fish assemblages in Western Australia using a rapid censusing technique. Records of the Western Australian Museum 20: 247-270 

Kuiter, R.H. 1992. Tropical Reef-Fishes of the Western Pacific, Indonesia and Adjacent Waters. Jakarta : PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama 314 pp. pls.

Randall, J.E. 1988. Three new Indo-Pacific damselfishes of the genus Chromis (Pomacentridae). Memoirs of Museum Victoria 49(1): 73-81 See ref at BHL

Randall, J.E. 2005. Reef and shore fishes of the South Pacific. New Caledonia to Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press 707 pp. 

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 507 pp. figs. 

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 557 pp. figs.

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37372033

Conservation:IUCN Least Concern

Depth:15-95 m

Habitat:Reef associated

Max Size:12.5 cm TL

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