Chromis ovalis
A small oval damselfish found on Hawaii's reefs, logged year-round in waters up to 20.8 C, though sightings stay uncommon at best.
Small and deep-bodied for a damselfish, growing to around 10 cm, with an oval silhouette that looks almost coin-shaped when viewed broadside. Colouring runs from bronze to brownish-grey with a faint pale edge on the tail fin, and the scales often show a soft iridescent sheen in sunlight. It usually hovers in loose groups just off the reef rather than darting into cover like many smaller damselfish.
Divers typically find it hovering in small, loose groups a short distance above the reef structure, picking at drifting plankton in the water column rather than feeding directly off the substrate. It tends to hold its position calmly as divers approach, only easing back into the reef when someone gets close. Look for it over rocky or mixed reef terrain rather than open sand.
Along with other Chromis species, it feeds mainly by plucking plankton straight out of the current, which is why you'll often see it stationed in open water above the reef rather than grazing algae like many of its damselfish relatives.
No clear seasonal pattern shows up in the sightings, and with a recorded temperature range of 9.0 to 20.8 C it appears to tolerate cooler water than most reef damselfish, so treat it as a year-round possibility on Hawaiian dives.
Reef neighbours a diver could mistake it for. Use the identification notes above to tell them apart.
Logged sites sit in Hawaii, United States, making it a fish you look for specifically on Hawaiian reefs rather than elsewhere in the Pacific. Within the data it appears at sites ranging from rare to uncommon, so it's a nice bonus sighting on a Hawaii dive trip rather than a guaranteed one.
Mapping where Hawaiian Chromis is logged…
Sightings come from Hawaii, United States, making it a fish specifically tied to Hawaiian reef dives rather than a wider Pacific species.
There's no strong seasonal signal in the sighting data, and its tolerance for a wide temperature range (9.0 to 20.8 C) suggests it can be encountered on Hawaiian dives throughout the year.
Look for a small, oval-bodied damselfish around 10 cm long with a bronze to grey-brown colour and a faint pale trim on the tail, usually hovering in loose groups just above the reef.
They top out at around 10 cm, making them one of the smaller reef fish you'll spot on a Hawaiian dive.
No. They're harmless small reef fish that hold their ground calmly as divers approach and pose no risk at all.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Yellowtail Clownfish
3,523 sites
