Onespot Puller, Chromis hypsilepis (Günther 1867)

Other Names: Brown Puller, One-spot Chromis, One-spot Puller

A Onespot Puller, Chromis hypsilepis, at Bass Point, Jervis Bay, New South Wales. Source: Graham Edgar / Reef Life Survey. License: CC by Attribution

Summary:

A bluish-grey to greyish-green puller with a white spot (sometimes faint or blotchy) on the body behind the dorsal fin, a black spot at the axil of the pectoral fin, a vertical yellow streak on the gill cover, and a whitish bar beneath the eye.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2025, Chromis hypsilepis in Fishes of Australia, accessed 01 May 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/325

Onespot Puller, Chromis hypsilepis (Günther 1867)

More Info

Distribution	Southern Queensland, to northern and eastern Tasmania, and west to Port Phillip, Victoria; also the Lord Howe Province and Norfolk Island in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere the species occurs in northern New Zealand. Inhabits inshore coastal and offshore rocky reefs, forming small to large feeding aggregations above the reef.
Features	Dorsal fin XIII, 13-14; Anal fin II, 12-13; Pectoral fin 20-21: Pelvic fin I, 5; Caudal fin 15; Gill rakers (total) 32-34; Lateral-line scales 19-20. Body deep (47-51% SL), compressed, of moderate length. Head small (approx. 29% SL); eyes large (approx. 27% HL); mouth small, oblique; jaws with small conical teeth, outer row enlarged with irregular bands of villiform teeth behind. Scales ctenoid, large, completely covering body and head except small area around nostrils, small scales covering most membranes of vertical fins; lateral line interrupted, anterior segment following contour of back to below first few soft dorsal fin rays, posterior segment originating immediately below on midline of side, continuing to base of caudal fin. Dorsal fin continuous with elongate base, first spine short, following three spines progressively longer, subsequent spines progressively shorter, segmented rays distinctly longer than adjacent spines; anal fin moderately small, similar and opposite posterior half of dorsal fin, first spine short, second much longer; caudal fin forked, tips pointed, upper and lower edges of caudal base usually with two or three projecting spiniform procurrent rays. Pectoral and pelvic fins of moderate size, tips pointed, pelvics thoracic in position.
Colour	Uniformly blue grey to green grey with large white spot dorsally on caudal peduncle; head often with tinges of yellow, and sometimes with yellow stripe along posterior margin of each preopercle; large black spot on base of each pectoral fin.
Biology	A schooling species often found in great numbers feeding on plankton well above the bottom. Adults nest on rockfaces, where large numbers of eggs are deposited and guarded by males. Areas with large boulders are preferred and shared by many individuals.
Etymology	The specific name hypsilepis is from the Greek hypsos (= height) and the Latin lepis (= scale),in reference to the depth of the scales "each scale on the middle of the side is twice as deep as long".
Species Citation	Heliastes hypsilepis Günther 1867, Annals and Magazine of Natural History 3 20(8): 66. Type locality: New South Wales.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2025
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Onespot Puller, Chromis hypsilepis (Günther 1867)

References

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

Allen, G. R. 2001. Family Pomacentridae, 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., Hoese, D.F., Paxton, J.R., Randall, J.E., Russell, B.C., Starck, W.A., Talbot, F.H. & Whitley, G.P. 1976. Annotated checklist of the fishes of Lord Howe Island. Records of the Australian Museum 30(15): 365-454 figs 1-2

Allen, G.R. & Gomon, M.F. 2008. Family Pomacentridae. pp. 634-638 in Gomon, M.F., Bray, D.J. & Kuiter, R.H. (eds). Fishes of Australia's Southern Coast. Sydney : Reed New Holland 928 pp.

Carpenter, K.E., Yeeting, B. & Jenkins, A. 2017. Chromis hypsilepis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T188369A1865215. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T188369A1865215.en. Downloaded on 08 August 2020.

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.

Coleman, N. 1980. Australian Sea Fishes South of 30ºS. Lane Cove, NSW : Doubleday Australia Pty Ltd 309 pp.

Edgar, G.J. 2008. Australian Marine Life: the plants and animals of temperate waters. Sydney : Reed New Holland 2nd edn, 624 pp.

Gill, A.C. & Reader, S.E. 1992. Fishes. pp. 90-93, 193-228 in Hutchings, P. (ed.) Reef Biology. A Survey of Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs, South Pacific. Canberra : Australian National Parks Vol. 3, Kowari 230 pp.

Gladstone, W. 2007. Selection of a spawning aggregation site by Chromis hypsilepis (Pisces: Pomacentridae): habitat structure, transport potential, and food availability. Marine Ecology Progress Series 351: 235-247.

Gladstone, W. 2007. Temporal patterns of spawning and hatching in a spawning aggregation of the temperate reef fish Chromis hypsilepis (Pomacentridae). Marine Biology 151: 1143-1152.

Gomon, M.F., Glover, C.J.M. & Kuiter, R.H. (eds) 1994. The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. Adelaide : State Printer 992 pp. 810 figs.

Günther, A. 1867. Additions to the knowledge of Australian reptiles and fishes. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 3 20(8): 45-68 See ref at BHL

Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3) See ref at BHL

Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 437 pp.

Kuiter, R.H. 1994. Family Pomacentridae. pp. 668-675, figs 586-591 in Gomon, M.F., Glover, C.J.M. & Kuiter, R.H. (eds). The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. Adelaide : State Printer 992 pp. 810 figs.

Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. A comprehensive reference for divers and fishermen. Sydney, NSW, Australia : New Holland Publishers xvii, 434 pp.

Last, P.L., W.T. White, D.C. Gledhill, A.J. Hobday, R. Brown, G.J. Edgar & G. Pecl. 2011. Long-term shifts in abundance and distribution of a temperate fish fauna: a response to climate change and fishing practices. Global Ecology and Biogeography 20: 58–72

Last, P.R. 1979. First records of the one spot puller (Chromis hypsilepis) and the spotted stingaree (Urolophus gigas) from Tasmanian waters with an annotated list of fishes recorded from Kent Islands, Bass Strait. Tasmanian Naturalist 59: 5–12

Oxley, W.G., Ayling, A.M., Cheal, A.J. & Osborne, K. 2004. Marine surveys undertaken in the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Nature Reserve, December 2003. Townsville : Australian Institute of Marine Sciences 64 pp.

Stewart, A.L., Roberts, C.D. & Struthers, C.D. 2015. Family Pomacentridae. pp. 1406-1423 in Roberts, C.D., Stewart, A.L. & Struthers, C.D. (eds). The Fishes of New Zealand. Wellington : Te Papa Press Vol. 4 pp. 1153-1748.

Whitley, G.P. 1929. Some fishes of the order Amphiprioniformes. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 9(3): 207-246 figs 1-4 pls 27-28