Pseudochromis springeri
A tiny bicolour dottyback tucked in Red Sea rubble and reef crevices, most reliably logged around Marsa Alam and Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast.
A tiny fish, barely 3cm, with a body split cleanly into two shades: dark grey to purplish-black on the front half and pale grey to white on the back half. It has the classic dottyback shape, slender and torpedo-like with a single long dorsal fin running most of its back. Look for it hovering close to a hole or crevice rather than out in the open, ready to dart in the moment it feels crowded.
Expect to find it hugging structure, hovering right at the mouth of a crevice or tucked against rubble and coral rock rather than swimming out over open reef. It reacts quickly to divers getting close, retreating into its hole rather than fleeing across open water, so a slow approach and patience at a safe distance gives the best look. Most sightings come from reef slopes and crevice-rich terrain rather than sand flats or open water.
Dottybacks are aggressively territorial for their size, and a single Springer's Dottyback will often hold and defend one particular crevice for extended periods, which is why divers who know a spot can often find the same fish there dive after dive.
No clear seasonal pattern shows up in the data, and with a comfortable range of roughly 22 to 28C on Red Sea reefs it can turn up on any dive, any month.
Reef neighbours a diver could mistake it for. Use the identification notes above to tell them apart.
Most consistently logged in Egypt, especially around Marsa Alam and the Deep South and South Sinai, with strong numbers also reported along Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast. Sudan's Northern, Central and Deep South & Suakin reefs add further sightings, with a smaller presence recorded in Djibouti's Seven Brothers Islands.
Mapping where Springer's Dottyback is logged…
It is most commonly logged in Egypt, particularly around Marsa Alam and the Deep South and in South Sinai, and along Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast. Sudan's northern and central reef systems also produce regular sightings, with a smaller presence in Djibouti.
There is no strong seasonal pattern in the sighting data, and it tolerates a wide temperature range of roughly 22 to 28C, so it is considered a year-round find on Red Sea reefs.
Look for a slender 3cm fish with a two-tone body: dark front half, pale rear half, and a single long dorsal fin. It usually sits near or half-inside a crevice rather than swimming freely over the reef.
It stays tiny, reaching only about 3cm in length, which makes it one of the smaller reef fish a diver is likely to spot in a crevice or rubble patch.
No. It poses no threat to divers and simply retreats into its crevice if approached too closely.
Individuals tend to hold a single crevice as a territory over time, defending it against other small fish, so divers who revisit a site can often find the same fish in the same spot on later dives.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Soldierfish
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