|
Blue Damsel
I read this article on Blue Damsels in this magzine called Marine fish and Reef 2006 Annual. There is one thing that is very intresting about this fish that everyone should read.They have other names then damsel Blue Devil, Blue Demoiseel, Orangetaqil Damsel. They come from a family called Dasemlfishes(Pomacentride) The redion Found:Indonesia to the Solomon Islands, north to the Ryukus and west Caroline Islands south to nroth western Aystralia and the Great Barruer Reef.They can reach up to 3.1 inces in leangth.The description of the fish is. The blue damsel as implied by its name is a brilliant bue overall. However the color differs somewhat between the sexes and or differnet geographical regions. For example in Japan and the Philippines tha males have blue fins with dark margins, while thouse of the females are clear.Over the rest of the range, the males have orange on the ventral surface of the body and a bright orange or yellow tail.(in some casees both the caudal fin and a portion of the cadual peduncle are orange).
|
|
|
|
Yellowtail Damsel
The females also have a black spot near the rear base of the dorsal fin. Captive care requirements: the blue is by far one of the most popular species in the aquarium trade. It is colorful, inexpensive and very hardy. It can live in tanks as small as 10 gallons but is more likely to be aggressive toward its tank-mates. in smaller aquarins. Provide the blue damsel with plenty of places to hide. It can be kept with other aggressive species if there are enough small nooks and brannies for it to shelter in. Of course, its small sixe makes the blue damsel a potential meal for many predators. such as frogfishes, loinfishes, groupers and triggerfishes- if they ca catch it. In a tank preplete with hiding places, these predators often have a difficult time catching this nimble little fish. Feeding: The blue damsel feeds primarily on filamentouse algae and tiny crustacenain in the wild. In the aquarium, it will eat all of the commmon aquarium diets. Of couse it should be fed a waried diet if you want it to remain healthy and retain its brilliant colors. The foods you feed should include plant material(e.g.,Spirulina). If there is algae in its tanl. you will only have to feed it several times a week. However, if the tank is algae impoverished, feed this species twice a day.
|
|
Temperament:Juveniles and females are usually not everly aggressive. In contrast, larger males can often be quite pugnacious, picking on more peaceful aquarium inhabitants, such as basslets, cardialfishes gobies firefishes and blennies.A male and female can be kept in a tank together, while a group of these fishs(comprised of one male and several females or a group of females and or juveniles can be introduced to a medium-sized aquarium with plenty of nooks and crannies for them to hide in. Add all individuals simultaneously, or add the male after the juveniles and females. This species is ideal for the reef aquarium as it will not harm any invertebrate tankmates and will eat some algae.
|
Availability within the Hobby: The blue damsel is a mainstay in the aquarium hobby. Its abundace in the wild as well as its appwaling coration and durability, means it is readily available at most aquarium stores.
|
BreedingChrysiptera cyanea will reasdily spawn in captivity. The blue damsel typocally occurs in small to large colines, whcih consist of males. females(which typically greatly outnumber males) and juveniles. Mature males are territorial. The focal point of the male's territory is a nestings site which usually consists of the valve(half the shell) of a small dead tridacnid clam. When ready to spawn females will begin visting one or more males. The female approaches the male stops swimming in front of him with her head up and a light ring will appear around each eye.When selecting a patner to spawn with the females will nisit the nests with largesr males or with males with more orange on the tail(that is in the areas where the males have orange on the caudal fin). The amount of orange on the tail can inc rease or decrase depending on the males's reproduc tive success.The male respinds to the female's visits by enganging in high levels of courtship. At dawn on the following day, females return to spawn with one fo the males that they visited the day before.
|
Unlike the day when females visit the nests, there is very littel to no courtshep taking place on the spawning day. Gronell (1989) reported that about 10 percent of the males get the majority of the eggs deposited. In some cases, females were observed to line up at the entrance of a very successful male's nest to wait their turn.Groneel also observed up to four females simultaneously spawning with a single male.Females of this species usually spwan onjce every four days, with females in colony spawning asynchronously(i.e, not all at the same time).As a result a male's nest will contain eggs in various stages of development. Groneel found that males with more eggs in their nest revceived more eggs subsequently, were more aggressive and hatched a greater proportion of their eggs. Males have need observed abandoining their eggs to take over the nests of other males that had disappeared and had more eggs in their nests. For example one male blue damsel left his nest of 2,100 eggs to take over a nest of more than 9,000 eggs. IN doing so he spwawned daily rather tahtn once every four days, whcih greatly increased his overall reproductive success. Some males use a cheating strategy. they will foster the eggs of other damsel species. It has been suggested that C. cyanea males may drive off other male damsels just after they spawn or take over abandoned nests and begin tending the eggs as if they were their own. After they spawn. the males vigorously defend and tend the eggs(e.g, they fan them and pick out diseased eggs) untill they hatch.The eggs eseally take four days to hatch(the development rate is temperature-dependent).
|
|
|