Princess Damsel way out of range

What the heck! John Sear has developed quite a habit of observing and documenting fishes south of their 'official' distributions. The southern limit to the distribution of the Princess Damsel, Pomacentrus vaiuli, is Moreton Bay, Queensland. This fish was observed more than 700km further south.
When asked about this remarkable observation John stated, "Re the P. vaiuli observation, last summer was an especially exciting one as far as species being observed outside their normal distribution ranges. Cabbage tree Bay aquatic reserve is a particularly good refuge for species that have had a ride down the eastern coast on the EAC, and last summer was particularly good for spotting damselfish species. This one was in close proximity to several other species that are not commonly spotted in the area, hiding amongst the rocky reef. It's colouration differentiated it from the more commonly found species, though identification required participation of more experienced fish gurus on iNat. Spotting new arrivals is easy, but confirmation of identification often requires expert input as was the case with this one."
As John said, there was some uncertainty about the identity of the fish, in particular whether the fish was P. vaiuli or P. bankanensis. We consulted the damselfish expert, Dr Gerald Allen who confirmed that the fish was indeed P. vaiuli. Thank you to Gerry for sharing his expertise and to John for another great contribution!
Publicado el 21 de septiembre de 2023 a las 04:22 AM por markmcg markmcg

Comentarios

Remarkable observation! @johnsear

Anotado por henrick hace cerca de un año

Congratulations on spotting it!

Anotado por susanprior hace cerca de un año

I love these observations, thanks for sharing

Anotado por christophercaine hace cerca de un año

I'm pleased to hear that you are enjoying them @christophercaine. There will be more to come.

Anotado por markmcg hace cerca de un año

Is there anything one doesn't spot in Cabbage Tree Bay? Everything turns up there eventually - including a Southern Right Whale and calf way back one July! It rounded up us Bold and Beautiful swimmers into a tight group, apparently to protect its calf. Very exciting. Jane.

Anotado por selchie2 hace 11 meses

Hi @selchie2. You're right about Cabbage Tree Bay. I'm expecting someone to observe Santa Clause there one day! :)

Anotado por markmcg hace 11 meses

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