Black bar chromis

Scientific name : Chromis retrofasciata

Small chromis, yellow to light brown with a prominent black bar in the back part. White tail, blue circle under the eye. 5 cm. Encountered in lagoon, along the reef front and external reef, in small shoals. A Plankton feeder. Due to the colour pattern, it is somehow symilar to Dascyllus reticulatus, always found close to branching corals. Distinguished by the missing reticulated pattern on the sides; in the latter a vertical bar behind the head is more prominent.
Plectroglyphidodon dickii has a similar colour pattern, but it is larger and solitary (territorial). Another fish sharing a similar colour pattern is the juvenile butterfly fish Chaetodon trifascialis. There is an advantage for the butterfly fish in being similar to the damsel fishes, living in shoals in the same environment: to be unobserved by predators. An animal similar to those around easily goes unnoticed, a very different one calls for attention.

Associated organisms
Often close to branching coral colonies.