Dascyllus abudafur


Dascyllus abudafur, the Indian Ocean humbug, is a species of ray-finned fish from the family Pomacentridae, the clownfishes and damselfishes.

Distribution

It is found in the Red Sea, along the coasts of eastern Africa to South Africa, the Seychelles, Comoros, Madagascar and Mascarene Islands east to the Sunda Islands.

Taxonomy

It has previously been classified as synonymous with the Pacific humbug but mitochondrial and nuclear DNA analysis shows that the two species were are genetically and morphologically different, with different geographic ranges.
Due to its close relation with D. aruanus, it is part of the D. aruanus species complex.

Etymology

The specific name is derived from the Arabic word for this species Abu-dafur Jabûd.