Blue-green Chromis

Chromis viridis

Blue-green Chromis

Chromis viridis

Other Common Names
Green chromis, Blue-green puller

Connected Coasts

Other Common Names

Green chromis, Blue-green puller

At the Aquarium

Connected Coasts

Appearance

As their name suggests, this fish is uniformly green or blue green. They also have a deeply forked tail.

During courtship males develop a blackish dorsal fin and upper pectoral rays. Some areas may also become yellow.

Blue-green chromis can grow up to 10 cm.

Habitat

Lagoons and subtidal reef flats. Found at depths of 1 to 20m.

Diet

Plankton

Life History

This species is often found in large groups among branch Acropora corals which provides them shelter from predators. Swarms of juveniles occur above smaller isolated coral heads.

Blue-green chromis produce a large number of eggs and once fertilized hatching begins after 2-3 days. During spawning, males prepare the nest which is shared by several females. Males guard the nest and ventilate fertilized eggs using their caudal fins. They also feed on the eggs that do not hatch.

Once hatched, blue-green chromis undergo a pelagic larval stage, where they float and drift in the current. They eventually grow into juveniles who settle on the reef and become adults.

Blue-green chromis is a short-lived species. The amount of time it takes for young blue-green chromis to grow up and lay eggs of their own is around 3 to 4 years.

IUCN Status

Least Concern

Ecosystem & Cultural Importance

Blue-green chromis are important in coral reef food chains as a source of food to a variety of larger fish species.

Distributed in the Indo-Pacific from the Mascarenes, Madagascar, Comoros, East Africa and the Red Sea, east to the Pitcairn Islands, north to Wake Atoll and southern Japan and south to Australia.

This animal is not native to the Oregon Coast, however is found in the larger Pacific Ocean. It lives in the Aquarium as part of our Connected Coasts gallery.

The blue-green chromis has a sibling species, the Blackfin Chromis (Chromis atripectoralis). This means that they look nearly identical but the two species are not capable of producing offspring.

Blue-green chromis use chemical and physical cues to locate the corals they settle on as juveniles.

Citations & Other Resources

Allen, G.R., M.T.M. Mutia, F.B. Muyot, C.L. Nañola, and M. Santos. 2022. Chromis viridis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.

Harrison, P., and A. Misiewicz. 2000. Reef fishes and corals of the Red Sea. New Holland.

Myers, R. F. 1991. Micronesian reef fishes : a practical guide to the identification of the coral reef fishes of the tropical central and western Pacific (2nd ed.). Coral Graphics.

Froukh, T., and M. Kochzius. 2008. Species boundaries and evolutionary lineages in the blue green damselfishes Chromis viridis and Chromis atripectoralis (Pomacentridae). Journal of Fish Biology, 72(2), 451–457. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2007.01746.x

Ben-Tzvi, O., D. Tchernov, and M. Kiflawi. 2010. Role of coral-derived chemical cues in microhabitat selection by settling Chromis viridis. Marine Ecology. Progress Series (Halstenbek), 409, 181–187. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08627

Blue-green Chromis

Blue-green Chromis

Other Common Names

At the Aquarium

Appearance

Habitat

Diet

Life History

IUCN Status

Ecosystem & Cultural Importance

Citations & Other Resources

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