Half-and-half Puller, Chromis iomelas Jordan & Seale 1906


Other Names: Black and White Chromis, Half And Half Chromis, Half-and-half Chromis, Pacific Half-and-half Chromis, White Tail Chromis

A Half-and-half Puller, Chromis iomelas, at East Diamond Islet in the Coral Sea, November 2016. Source: Ian Shaw / iNaturalist.org. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:
A brownish to black puller anteriorly and abruptly white posteriorly, with black pelvic fins, a large black spot on the pectoral-fin base, and a pair of filamentous rays on the upper and lower caudal-fin lobes. The dark anterior ends abruptly before the anal-fin origin and the pectoral fin tips extend beyond the demarcation.

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2020, Chromis iomelas in Fishes of Australia, accessed 29 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2316

Half-and-half Puller, Chromis iomelas Jordan & Seale 1906

More Info


Distribution

Far northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland and reefs in the Coral Sea, to Sydney, New South Wales; also the Lord Howe Province in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere the species occurs in the tropical, west-central Pacific.
Individuals or small groups usually inhabit coral rich areas on outer reefs and slopes.

Features

Dorsal fin XII, 13-14; Anal sfin II, 13-14; Pectoral fin 17; Lateral-line scales 15; Gill rakers 26-27.
Body depth 1.8-1.9 in SL.

Similar Species

Chromis iomelas differs from the similar Chromis fieldi in having 13 or 14 soft dorsal-fin rays (vs. mostly 12 dorsal-fin rays in C. fieldi), the dark brown anterior colour ending before the anal-fin origin (vs. at or slightly posterior to the anal-fin origin in C. fieldi), and the pale colour extending forward dorsally in C. fieldi

Etymology

The specific name iomelas is from the Greek isos (= equal to, the same as) and the Latin, melas (= black, dark) in reference to the evenly distributed colors.

Species Citation

Chromis iomelas Jordan & Seale 1906, Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries (U.S.) for 1905 25: 292. Type locality: Pago Pago, Samoan Islands. 

Author

Bray, D.J. 2020

Resources

Atlas of Living Australia

Half-and-half Puller, Chromis iomelas Jordan & Seale 1906

References


Allen, G.R. 1975. Damselfishes of the South Seas. New Jersey : T.F.H. Publications 237 pp. 251 figs. 

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

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

Choat, J.H., van Herwerden, L., Robbins, W.D., Hobbs, J.P. & Ayling, A.M. 2006. A report on the ecological surveys undertaken at Middleton and Elizabeth Reefs, February 2006. Report by James Cook University to the Department of the Environment and Heritage. 65 pp. 

Jordan, D.S. & Seale, A. 1906. The fishes of Samoa. Description of the species found in the Archipelago, with a provisional checklist of the fishes of Oceania. Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries (U.S.) for 1905 25: 173-455 figs 1-111 pls 33-53 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. 

Randall, J.E. & DiBattista, J.D. 2013. A new species of damselfish (Pomacentridae) from the Indian Ocean. aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology 19(1): 1-16.

Russell, B.C. 1983. Annotated checklist of the coral reef fishes in the Capricorn-Bunker group, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Special Publication Series 1: 1-184 figs 1-2

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37372043

Depth:3-35 m

Fishing:Aquarium fish

Habitat:Reef associated

Max Size:8.5 cm SL

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CAAB distribution map