Charcoal Damsel

Pomacentrus brachialis

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Ovalentaria incertae sedis
Family: Pomacentridae
Genus: Pomacentrus
Species: Pomacentrus brachialis

The charcoal damsel (Pomacentrus brachialis) is a dark grey to blackish damselfish with a black spot at the base of the pectoral fin. Its colour can look almost charcoal underwater.

It grows to about 10 cm and lives on reef slopes and walls, often in loose groups, feeding on plankton in the water column above the reef.

The charcoal damsel is found in the western Pacific, including the Philippines, where it is common on outer reef slopes. It shares the reef with relatives such as the princess damselfish.