Humbug damselfish

Care at a glance

The humbug damselfish is crisply banded in black and white and in the wild lives in small groups among the branches of stony corals, into which it dives at any danger. Juveniles are therefore genuinely social fish.

Over the years that picture changes: adults claim a fixed piece of reef and chase everything off it, including much larger fish. So add it to the tank last, provide plenty of rock structure, and be aware that catching it later almost always means dismantling the aquascape.

Good to know

• Territorial

Best not combined with

• Four-stripe damselfishDascyllus melanurus

Related species

• Cinnamon clownfishAmphiprion melanopus
• Twinspot gobySignigobius biocellatus
• Engineer gobyPholidichthys leucotaenia
• Lamarck’s angelfishGenicanthus lamarck
• Sergeant major damselAbudefduf saxatilis
• Threadfin butterflyfishChaetodon auriga