Stegastes punctatus
A small, feisty reef damsel logged year-round at Flic-en-Flac in warm 25.5-29.3°C water. Here's how to spot one and where to look.
A stocky little damselfish, rarely more than 9 cm, with a blunt, rounded snout and a deep-bodied oval shape. Colour runs dark brown to blackish overall, often with faint pale flecking scattered across the flanks that can be hard to pick out unless you're close. It tends to hover just above a patch of reef or rubble it's clearly claimed as its own, which is often the first clue to its identity before the colour registers.
Look for it parked low over a small territory on the reef flat or reef edge, usually in that 1-5 m shallow zone where the light is good and the coral rubble or turf algae it feeds on is thick. Like most Stegastes damselfish, it can get tetchy about divers or fish drifting too close to its patch and will dart out to nip or chase off the intruder before returning to its post. Most sightings are logged as uncommon rather than common, so it's not a fish you'll see on every dive, but a patient look along shallow rubble and coral edges usually turns one up.
Like other Stegastes damselfish, it likely tends a small algal turf patch on the reef, weeding out unwanted growth and defending the plot aggressively against anything that strays too close, herbivore neighbours included.
No clear seasonal pattern shows up in the sightings data, and with a comfortable range of 25.5 to 29.3°C it's on the reef year-round rather than tied to a particular window. Any time you're diving the shallows in Mauritius or Reunion, it's worth a look.
Reef neighbours a diver could mistake it for. Use the identification notes above to tell them apart.
Mauritius is by far the strongest bet, with sites clustered around Flic-en-Flac, Grand Baie, Trou aux Biches and Blue Bay turning it up regularly. Reunion, particularly Saint-Leu, is the next most reliable spot, and it also shows up on reefs in Fiji (Viti Levu), New Caledonia (Nouméa) and Sabah in Malaysia, though less consistently.
Mapping where Bluntsnout Gregory is logged…
Mauritius is the most reliable place, especially around Flic-en-Flac, Grand Baie, Trou aux Biches and Blue Bay. It also turns up in Reunion (Saint-Leu), Fiji, New Caledonia and Malaysia, though less often.
There's no strong season in the sightings, and it sits comfortably in 25.5 to 29.3°C water, so it's around on shallow tropical reefs throughout the year.
Look for a small, deep-bodied damselfish around 9 cm with a blunt rounded snout and dark brown to blackish colouring, sometimes flecked with faint pale spots. It usually hovers close over a patch of shallow reef or rubble it's defending.
They're small, typically reaching about 9 cm, which is standard for a Stegastes damselfish.
They're not dangerous, but like other Stegastes damselfish they can be territorial and will dart towards anything, including a diver's hand or mask, that gets too close to their patch of reef.
They're herbivores, grazing on algae growing over reef rubble and rock within their small home territory.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Yellowtail Clownfish
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