Atlantic Sergeant Major (Abudefduf saxatilis) lives in coral reefs across Western Atlantic Ocean. It feeds on algae and plankton. Its conservation status is Least Concern.
Fascinating facts about the Atlantic Sergeant Major
- Sergeant majors can stretch up to 22.9 cm (9.0 in), but most adults settle around 15 cm (5.9 in). The biggest individual ever recorded tipped the scales at 200 g (7.1 oz). Their bodies are painted white with a yellow top and marked by five bold black or dark-blue vertical bars, sometimes a faint sixth on the tail base, while males turn a richer blue and hide their stripes when guarding nests.
- Across the Atlantic, sergeant majors occupy a belt from the northeastern United States down to Uruguay in the west, and from Portugal to western Africa in the east, hugging islands like the Azores, Canary Islands and Cape Verde. Juveniles crowd tidal pools while adults patrol coral reefs as deep as 40 m (130 ft).
- In the wild, sergeant majors gather in shoals of several hundred. Within these groups, they host cleaning stations where gobies (genus Gobiosoma), Bodianus rufus, Elacatinus figaro and Thalassoma noronhanum pick off parasites, and they even clean green sea turtles alongside surgeonfish.
- Sergeant majors are opportunistic eaters, snatching invertebrate larvae, copepods, shrimp larvae, pelagic tunicates, tiny fish, crustaceans and both benthic and pelagic algae. Remarkably, they also mop up waste and vomit from spinner dolphins.
- Male sergeant majors nests on rocks, shipwrecks or pilings where females dump roughly 200,000 ovoid eggs attached by filaments. The eggs turn greenish after a few days, and the guarding male blushes bluish, defending the clutch for about a week.
Sources
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At a glance
RangeWestern Atlantic Ocean
HabitatCoral reefs
DietAlgae and plankton
About the Atlantic Sergeant Major
In the vibrant tapestry of the coral reef, the Atlantic Sergeant Major dances with precision, its iridescent scales flashing like shards of turquoise as it darts between the waving sea fans and coral formations. With a boldness that belies its modest size, this diminutive damselfish patrols its territory with unwavering dedication, its bright yellow and black stripes serving as a warning to potential intruders. As it weaves through the reef's intricate landscape, the Atlantic Sergeant Major embodies the very essence of tropical marine life, its beauty and resilience a testament to the enduring wonders of the ocean's shallow waters.
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