Caerulean damsel

Pomacentrus caeruleus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth2–31 m
Water temperature23–29 °C
Best monthsMarch, October, and November
How commonRare

Photo credit: no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

About this species

Pomacentrus caeruleus, the cerulean damselfish, is a species of damselfish from the Western Indian Ocean. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade. It grows to 10 cm (3.9 in) in length.

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

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 24 records
February: 23 records
March: 38 records
April: 36 records
May: 31 records
June: 15 records
July: 18 records
August: 18 records
September: 20 records
October: 42 records
November: 41 records
December: 31 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 2–31 m · Deepest record: 125 m

0–10 m: 14 records
10–20 m: 15 records
20–30 m: 6 records
30–40 m: 3 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 23–29 °C

22–24 °C: 4 records
24–26 °C: 23 records
26–28 °C: 43 records
28–30 °C: 36 records

Photos

(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Mahomed Desai, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Michael Bakker Paiva, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Louis Imbeau, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Caerulean damsel, Bluedevil, Blue Pete, Blue-yellow Damsel

Names in 4 more languages

German: Azurblaue Demoiselle, Gelbbauchdemoiselle
Spanish: Damita bicolor
French: Demoiselle bleue et jaune
Thai: ปลาสลิดหินน้ำเงิน

Other scientific names: Pomacentrus coeruleus, Pomacentrus pulcherrimus

Similar species

Blue Damsel
Pomacentrus coelestis
Lemon damsel
Pomacentrus moluccensis
Ocellate Damselfish
Pomacentrus vaiuli
Dusky Damsel
Pomacentrus adelus
Amboina Damselfish
Pomacentrus amboinensis
Goldbelly Damsel
Pomacentrus auriventris

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).
285 open-data records from 1824 to 2021.
Species data updated October 30, 2026.

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