We really like the weirdo damselfish and Chrysiptera traceyi is the latest new species of Pomacentridae to be imported to the aquarium trade. We reported a couple weeks back that Chrysiptera traceyi had been in imported from the Marshall Islands and we’ve now gotten a few Tracey damselfish of our own from Oculus Aquatics vie Elite Reef.
Our six Chrysiptera traceyi are all currently in quarantine together in a 29 gallon aquarium where they seem to be showing only moderate aggression compared to when the tufi damselfish, Chrysiptera niger, were in there. We’ve snapped a few pics of our little tribe of Traceys but would like to note that the flash makes these damselfish appear very different. In real life under a royal blue and white LED light they look like purple and yellow royal grammas.
The purple and yellow is not as vivid as in Gramma loreto but still the resemblance is there. There’s a ton of blue and yellow Chrysiptera species including the common yellow tail damselfish, some forms of blue devils and the recently described Chrysiptera azarnae and the flashing chromis, Chromis flavicauda, but Tracey’s damselfish is probably the only purple damslefish we can think of beside Chromis limbaughi. Lots more shots of C. traceyi when you continue reading.
