A plain yellow damsel that hangs beside sea fans and black coral on slopes.
To about 13 cm, uniformly golden-yellow, deep-bodied, with faintly blue-edged fins. There is nothing else on these slopes that is simply a yellow damselfish of this size and shape, so it is straightforward once seen.
It hangs in the water a short distance out from gorgonian sea fans, black coral trees and steep slope faces, taking zooplankton, and retreats into the branches when pressed. Males clear and guard egg patches on the bare stalks of gorgonians, and a guarding male will hold position rather than flee, which makes it the reliable time to photograph the species. It is generally a deeper fish than the other damsels here, mostly below 10 m. Recorded to about 45 m.
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.