Magenta dottyback

Pictichromis porphyrea

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth15–62 m
Water temperature27–29 °C
Best monthsMarch, April, and October
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Pictichromis porphyrea, the magenta dottyback, is a fish in the dottyback family from the western Pacific. It can be found from the Philippines to Samoa, extending north to the Ryukyu Islands and south to the Moluccas and Admiralty Islands. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade. It grows to a size of 6 cm (2.4 in) in length.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Pictichromis porphyrea”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 29 records
February: 23 records
March: 44 records
April: 41 records
May: 29 records
June: 16 records
July: 23 records
August: 10 records
September: 25 records
October: 36 records
November: 30 records
December: 19 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 15–62 m · Deepest record: 76 m

0–10 m: 1 records
10–20 m: 3 records
20–30 m: 10 records
30–40 m: 2 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 1 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 27–29 °C

26–28 °C: 9 records
28–30 °C: 21 records

Photos

(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Roger Rittmaster, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Jay Paroline, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Roger Rittmaster, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ben Costamagna, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Magenta dottyback, Magneta Dottyback, Purple Dottyback, Strawberry dottyback

Names in 3 more languages

Spanish: Perca enana magenta
Japanese: Kurenainisesuzume, クレナイニセスズメ
Simplified Chinese: 准雀鯛, 紅獅公, 紅貓仔, 紫繡雀鯛, 草莓

Other scientific names: Pseudochromis porphyreus

Similar species

Bicolor Dottyback
Pictichromis diadema
Ambeetunbeet
Congrogadus subducens
Darkstriped Dottyback
Labracinus cyclophthalmus
Brown Dottyback
Pseudochromis fuscus
Marshall Dottyback
Pseudochromis marshallensis
Blackmargin Dottyback
Pseudochromis tapeinosoma

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
203 open-data records from 1987 to 2018.
Species data updated October 30, 2026.

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