Cloudy Damsel

The cloudy damsel is recognized by its pearly white body, small dark-edged blue spots on its head and nape, and a black bar running from the front of the dorsal fin down to the base of the pectoral fin. Its pelvic and anal fins are black, and its tail is light bluish. It is a relative of the three-stripe and domino damsels, which have their own pages on the site; it is smaller than them and its colors are softer. In the wild it picks plankton in small groups above branching corals. It is very hardy, but adults fiercely defend their own coral.

• At least 110 liters.
• Salinity specific gravity 1.023–1.026, pH 8.1–8.4, temperature 24–27°C.
• Reef-safe: it leaves corals and invertebrates alone.
• Branching corals or branching rock structures it can shelter in.
• Adding it as one of the last fish in the aquarium reduces aggression.

Omnivorous. It readily accepts granule and flake foods, frozen mysis, brine shrimp and foods containing algae. Feed twice a day.

It lives in groups when young and becomes territorial and quarrelsome as an adult. It chases its own species and similarly sized fish away from the coral it shelters in.

Good companions: Tangs, large wrasses, dwarf angelfish, hawkfish, medium-sized fish that can defend themselves.

Avoid: Other Dascyllus species and damsels, timid fish such as the firefish goby, small gobies, royal gramma.