Dr. Gerald (Gerry) Robert Allen, Australien
Info
The damselfish Pomacentrus proteus is yellowish-brown with blue spots or stripes on most scales, the ocellus on the front dorsal fin and blue lines on the front body.
The light blue dark spotted eye at the end of the dorsal fin is clearly pronounced in both juvenile and adult fish.
Around Sri Lanka and Phuket, Thailand, this damselfish is found around muddy coastal reefs over mixed coral and rubble bottoms.
Pomacentrus proteus occurs there solitary or in loose groups.
We would like to thank Gerry Allen for sending us two of his photos of this rare species, which can also be seen on page 677 of the second book in the outstanding trilogy “Reef Fishes Of The Eastern Indies” by Gerry Allen and Mark Erdmann.
This trilogy is highly recommended to all marine fish lovers, and the second edition is currently in circulation.
Etymology:
The English species name “colombo” refers to the capital of Sri Lanka on the west coast, the type locality of this damselfish species.
The Latin species name “proteus” ^indicates the “first” (from Greek “πρῶτος” prōtos, “first”), because prōtogonos (πρωτόγονος) is the “primeval man” or the “first-born”.
The light blue dark spotted eye at the end of the dorsal fin is clearly pronounced in both juvenile and adult fish.
Around Sri Lanka and Phuket, Thailand, this damselfish is found around muddy coastal reefs over mixed coral and rubble bottoms.
Pomacentrus proteus occurs there solitary or in loose groups.
We would like to thank Gerry Allen for sending us two of his photos of this rare species, which can also be seen on page 677 of the second book in the outstanding trilogy “Reef Fishes Of The Eastern Indies” by Gerry Allen and Mark Erdmann.
This trilogy is highly recommended to all marine fish lovers, and the second edition is currently in circulation.
Etymology:
The English species name “colombo” refers to the capital of Sri Lanka on the west coast, the type locality of this damselfish species.
The Latin species name “proteus” ^indicates the “first” (from Greek “πρῶτος” prōtos, “first”), because prōtogonos (πρωτόγονος) is the “primeval man” or the “first-born”.
