A small Red Sea chromis, olive with a yellow wash at the pectoral base, feeding in clouds above the reef.
To about 7 cm. Olive-brown with black tail lobes, dark outer edges to the dorsal, pelvic and anal fins with bright blue lines inside them, and a yellow base to the pectoral fin, which is where the scientific name comes from and is the only character this entry can offer with confidence.
Several Red Sea chromis have black-tipped tail lobes, so that will not do it on its own, and no source consulted gives a clean separator from the others. The yellow pectoral base is what is sourced.
Nought to eighteen metres on coral reef, in aggregations feeding on zooplankton above the reef and sheltering in branching coral. Eggs are laid on the bottom and the male guards and fans them.
Its range is the Arabian peninsula only, from the northern Red Sea to the Persian Gulf. It has not been evaluated by the IUCN, which is unusual for a fish this common.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.