Sapphire damsel
Pomacentrus pavo
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Sapphire damsel
- Scientific
- Pomacentrus pavo
- Dhivehi
- ހުނިކެHunike
- Group
- Reef fish
- Maximum size
- Up to about 8.5 cm (standard length)
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 1 to 18 m
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2021
Description
A small, brilliant blue to blue-green damselfish with fine darker lines on the head and a pale tail. It lives in groups over sand around isolated coral heads and rubble in lagoons, and is common around jetties. It feeds on zooplankton and filamentous algae.
In the Maldives
Dhivehi Wikipedia (MRS-derived) gives hunike; FishBase (Maldives) gives muraka mas.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Pomacentrus-pavo.html
- fishbase.se /comnames/CommonNamesList.php?ID=5726&GenusName=Pomacentrus&SpeciesNam
- dv.wikipedia.org /wiki/ހުނިކެ
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:PomacentPavoAndyALewis.jpg
Dhivehi name source: FishBase (country: Maldives) gives only the general group name 'Muraka mas'. Thaana from the Dhivehi Wikipedia article 'ހުނިކެ' (derived from the MRS 1997 Dhivehi edition). No published Latin-script form found; 'Hunike' is Pax's transliteration of the Thaana (Malé Latin conventions). FishBase also lists 'Thathali' under India (Minicoy/Lakshadweep Mahl dialect); not used. FLAG: Latin form is a transliteration, not a published spelling.