
Charcoal damsel
Pomacentrus brachialis
- Usual depth5–21 m
- Water temperature23–30 °C
- Best monthsFebruary
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 87 records
- February: 787 records
- March: 395 records
- April: 109 records
- May: 80 records
- June: 302 records
- July: 122 records
- August: 120 records
- September: 149 records
- October: 73 records
- November: 68 records
- December: 37 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 5–21 m · Deepest record: 41 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 23–30 °C
Photos

(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Donald Davesne, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Solomon Islands Fish ID Project, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Annika Lindqvist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Charcoal damsel, Bar-finned Damsel, Black Damsel, charcoal damsel, Charcoal Damselfish
Names in 3 more languages
- Spanish
- Damita azabache
- French
- Demoiselle charbon, Demoiselle Noire
- Simplified Chinese
- 厚殼仔, 腋斑雀鯛, 臂雀鯛, 臂雀鲷
Other scientific names: Pomacentrus melanopterus, Pseudopomacentrus rainfordi
Similar species
Blue DamselPomacentrus coelestis
Ocellate DamselfishPomacentrus vaiuli
- Lemon damsel
Pomacentrus moluccensis
Amboina DamselfishPomacentrus amboinensis
Philippine DamselPomacentrus philippinus
- Dusky Damsel
Pomacentrus adelus
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.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 3,022 open-data records from 1852 to 2023.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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