Pomacentrus cuneatus
A small, uncommon reef damsel logged in Sabah, Malaysia, in warm 28 to 29 C water year-round.
Small and compact at around 6 cm, with a body shape typical of damselfish: oval, deep-bodied and quick to dart for cover. Look for a dark, wedge-shaped mark on the upper body, the feature that gives this fish its name, set against an otherwise pale to olive-brown body. It moves in short, jerky bursts close to the reef structure rather than swimming out in open water.
Expect to find it hovering close to a patch of reef or rubble it treats as home base, darting for cover the instant a diver gets too close. Like most small damselfish it holds a tight territory rather than roaming, so if you spot one, hold still and it will often reappear in the same spot within a minute or two. Divers have logged it as an uncommon find, so it rewards a slow, close look at the substrate rather than a quick swim-by.
Damselfish in this genus are notoriously territorial for their size, and a wedgespot-sized fish will still square up to intruders many times its own bulk around its patch of reef.
No clear seasonal pattern shows up in the sightings so far, and with water in the 28.4 to 29.3 C range year-round, there's no thermal reason to expect it to disappear in any particular month. Treat it as a year-round possibility rather than a seasonal target.
Reef neighbours a diver could mistake it for. Use the identification notes above to tell them apart.
Currently logged by divers only in Sabah, Malaysia, making it a Southeast Asian speciality rather than a fish you can plan a trip around across multiple destinations. If you're diving Sabah's reefs, keep an eye on rubble and coral debris zones where small damselfish shelter.
Mapping where Wedgespot Damselfish is logged…
The only confirmed diver sightings so far are from Sabah, Malaysia, where it turns up on reef and rubble habitat. It hasn't yet been logged elsewhere, so Sabah is currently the place to look for it.
There's no detected seasonal pattern, and the water it's been recorded in stays a steady 28.4 to 29.3 C, so it's considered a year-round sighting rather than a seasonal one.
Look for a small, deep-bodied damselfish around 6 cm long with a distinctive dark wedge-shaped mark on its upper body. It stays close to rubble or reef structure and darts for cover quickly when approached.
They're small, typically reaching around 6 cm, in line with most damselfish in the Pomacentrus genus.
No, they pose no danger to divers. They're a small, territorial reef fish that will chase off intruders near its patch but poses no threat to a diver.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Yellowtail Clownfish
3,523 sites
