Animal Species:Royal Dottyback, Pictichromis paccagnellae (Axelrod, 1973)

The Royal Dottyback can be recognised by its distinctive colouration. The species occurs in tropical marine waters of the Western Pacific

Royal Dottyback at 'Pixie's Pinnacle'

Royal Dottyback at 'Pixie's Pinnacle'
Erik Schlögl © Erik Schlögl

Alternative Name/s

Bicolor Cichlops, Two-colour Dottyback, Two-tone Dottyback

Identification

The Royal Dottyback can be recognised by its distinctive colouration. The front half of the fish is bright purple, which abruptly changes to yellow on the back half of the fish. The species occurs in tropical marine waters of the Western Pacific.

It is listed in many publications as Pseudochromis paccagnellae.

Size range

The species grows to 7 cm in length.

Distribution

The species occurs in tropical marine waters of the Western Pacific. In Australia the Royal Dottyback is found in coastal and offshore coral reefs. It is known from the islands off north-western Western Australia and most of the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland.

The map below shows the Australian distribution of the species based on public sightings and specimens in Australian Museums.  Source: Atlas of Living Australia.

Pseudochromis paccagnellae

Distribution by collection data

Ozcam map of Royal Dottyback specimens in the Australian Museums.

What does this mean?

Classification

Species:
paccagnellae
Genus:
Pictichromis
Family:
Pseudochromidae
Order:
Perciformes
Class:
Actinopterygii
Subphylum:
Vertebrata
Phylum:
Chordata
Kingdom:
Animalia

What does this mean?

References

  1. Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 292.
  2. Hoese, D.F., Bray, D.J., Paxton, J.R. & G.R. Allen. 2006. Fishes. In Beesley, P.L. & A. Wells. (eds) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Volume 35. ABRS & CSIRO Publishing: Australia. parts 1-3, pages 1-2178.
  3. Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433.
  4. Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 557.

 


Mark McGrouther , Collection Manager, Ichthyology
Last Updated:

Tags Fishes, Ichthyology, Royal Dottyback, Pseudochromis paccagnellae, Pseudochromidae, distinctive colouration, tropical water, marine, Bicolor Cichlops, Two-colour Dottyback, Two-tone Dottyback, front half bright purple, back half bright yellow, < 10 cm, Great Barrier Reef, Pictichromis paccagnellae,