Neopomacentrus bankieri
A small blue-grey damselfish common on reefs in Queensland and Hong Kong's Sai Kung, active year-round in 25-29C water.
A slim, small damselfish topping out around 6 cm, with a pale blue-grey to silvery body that catches light as it turns. Look for a dark margin along the upper edge of the tail fin and a faint dusky smudge near the base of the pectoral fin, the two marks that separate it from plainer silvery damsels on the same reef. It swims with the quick, twitchy pulses typical of the group rather than a smooth glide.
Expect to find it hovering in loose, shifting groups just off the reef structure, picking at drifting plankton rather than sticking close to a single bommie. It holds its ground fairly well as divers approach, scattering only a short distance before regrouping, which makes it an easy, low-drama subject for a mid-dive look around. Most sightings come from daytime reef dives rather than any particular time of day.
Like other Neopomacentrus damsels, it feeds mainly by picking zooplankton straight out of the water column above the reef, which is why you'll often see loose aggregations hanging in open water rather than hugging coral heads.
No clear seasonal pattern shows up in the sightings, and its comfortable range of roughly 25 to 29 C matches the year-round conditions on the reefs where it lives, so any month is a reasonable bet in Queensland or Hong Kong.
Reef neighbours a diver could mistake it for. Use the identification notes above to tell them apart.
Most reliably logged on reefs off Queensland, Australia, where it turns up as a common sighting at a wide spread of sites, and also a solid find around Sai Kung in Hong Kong. Between these two regions it covers a good stretch of the western Pacific's subtropical and tropical reef systems.
Mapping where Chinese Demoiselle is logged…
Queensland, Australia is the strongest area for sightings, with Sai Kung in Hong Kong also a dependable spot. Both regions log it as a common reef fish rather than a rare find.
There's no strong season in the sighting data, and its preferred water temperature of roughly 25 to 29 C holds year-round on the reefs it favours, so it's a fair bet on any dive trip to Queensland or Hong Kong.
Look for a small, slender damselfish around 6 cm long with a pale blue-grey body, a dark edge along the top of the tail fin and a faint smudge at the base of the pectoral fin. It moves in quick, twitchy bursts, often in loose groups hovering just off the reef.
They're a small damselfish, typically reaching about 6 cm in length, so they're easy to overlook among larger reef fish unless you're looking closely.
No. They pose no danger to divers and will simply scatter a short distance if you swim too close before settling back into their group.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Yellowtail Clownfish
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