- Habitat
- Reef
- Max size
- 20 cm
- Depth
- 0-15 m
- Family
- Pomacentridae
The Indo-Pacific sergeant is a species of damselfish in the family Pomacentridae. It may also be known as the Sergeant major although this name is usually reserved for the closely related species Abudefduf saxatilis. The closely related Abudefduf caudobimaculatus was formerly considered to be synonymous with this species and, according to some authorities, is synonymous.
Adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Side by side, with what tells them apart.
Both are pale fish with bold black bars that feed in groups in the shallows. Convict Surgeonfish has thin bars -- one slanting through its yellow eye, one on the tail base -- a small pointed snout, and a sharp spine that folds into a groove on each side of the tail base. Indo-pacific Sergeant has five broad blue-black bars, none through the eye, often a yellow back between the first and third, and a forked tail.
See the Convict Surgeonfish →
Both are pale sergeants with black bars. Indo-pacific Sergeant has five broad bars and often a yellow back between the first and third. Bengal Sergeant has six or seven narrower bars, no yellow and no black spot on the tail base, and large adults have a rounded tail with a pale edge.
See the Bengal Sergeant →
Both are pale with five black bars. Indo-pacific Sergeant has a yellow back and a plain tail. Scissortail Sergeant has no yellow, and a black stripe runs along each lobe of its tail, like the blades of open scissors.
See the Scissortail Sergeant →