Chromis pembae
A small, uncommon damselfish logged across South Sinai and the Red Sea Riviera in warm 25-29C water, year-round.
A slim, compact damselfish topping out around 9 cm, easy to miss among busier reef fish. Look for a slender, slightly oval body with a subdued grey to blue-grey tone rather than the flashy colours of many reef damselfish, and a forked tail that flicks constantly as it hovers. It typically holds position just off the reef structure rather than schooling in dense clouds.
Divers tend to spot it holding a modest station just above the reef, picking at plankton in the water column rather than darting in and out of coral heads. It's not a fish that reacts dramatically to divers, generally holding its ground or drifting a short distance off rather than bolting for cover. Logged as uncommon at every site where it appears, so it's more a case of spotting the right damselfish among a crowd than finding it in obvious numbers.
It's one of the less flashy chromis species, and its low-key colouring is likely part of why it gets overlooked or misidentified against more common Red Sea damselfish.
No clear seasonal pattern shows up in the sighting data, and its comfort range of roughly 25 to 29C matches the Red Sea's water temperature for most of the year, so it's a year-round sighting rather than a seasonal one.
Reef neighbours a diver could mistake it for. Use the identification notes above to tell them apart.
Sightings come almost entirely from Egypt's Red Sea, with South Sinai the strongest area and the Red Sea Riviera a reliable second. Sites around these two regions account for all logged encounters, so divers heading to the northern and central Egyptian Red Sea have the best shot at it.
Mapping where Pemba Chromis is logged…
Nearly all logged sightings come from Egypt, particularly South Sinai and the Red Sea Riviera. It hasn't been reliably recorded outside the Egyptian Red Sea in current diver data.
There's no strong seasonal signal, and water temperatures in its comfort range of 25 to 29C hold for much of the year in the Red Sea, so it can turn up on any dive, any month.
Look for a small, slender damselfish around 9 cm with muted grey-blue colouring and a forked tail, usually hovering alone or in loose company just off the reef rather than schooling tightly.
They reach about 9 cm, putting them among the smaller damselfish you'll see on a Red Sea reef.
No. It's a small, harmless damselfish that poses no risk to divers and generally keeps a calm distance.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Yellowtail Clownfish
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