A dark territorial damselfish with a pale tail base, farming an algal patch on shallow Galapagos rock.
To about 17 cm. Charcoal grey to dark brown with darker scale outlines, usually a white band across the tail base, a blue iris, a blue-black spot at the rear edge of the gill cover, and a yellow or white outer edge to the pectoral fins. The juvenile is dark with a red or orange nape, upper back and spiny dorsal, and a dark eyespot at the rear of the dorsal base.
The other damselfish on the same rock at the Galapagos and Cocos is the Galapagos gregory, and the tail settles it: yellow or gold there, dark with a white band here.
Nought to twenty metres along rocky shore. It is an omnivore taking sessile worms, benthic microalgae and small crustaceans. Whether it farms algae or defends against divers is not recorded for this species.
Listed as Vulnerable. It occurs at the Galapagos, Cocos and Malpelo only, with occasional strays to the mainland.
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.