🐠 Jewel Damsel (Stegastes lacrymatus)
A Dark Blue-Black Juvenile With Electric Blue Spots • A Brown Adult With a Golden Eye and Yellow Tail • A Bold Species Needing Equally Assertive Tankmates
 
📋 A note on naming: "Jewel Damsel" is a common name shared with a distinct, unrelated Western Atlantic species, Microspathodon chrysurus. This listing refers to Stegastes lacrymatus, also known as the Whitespotted Devil, native to the Indo-Pacific.
The Jewel Damsel undergoes a dramatic colour transformation; juveniles have a dark blue-to-black body scattered with bright electric blue spots, while adults become a dark brown with a golden eye and a yellow tail. It comes from a wide range across the Indo-Pacific, inhabiting lagoon patch reefs and outer reef slopes at depths of roughly 1 to 40 metres, feeding on algae and benthic invertebrates. Every Jewel Damsel we ship is feeding well.
This is a hardy, easy-to-keep species that's fully reef safe, but becomes aggressive once established, and is best housed only with robust, similarly assertive tankmates such as dottybacks, hawkfish, large wrasses, large angelfish, surgeonfish, or triggerfish. It will pester and bully more peaceful species, so plan tankmates carefully. It should be kept singly, one per tank. It reaches up to 10cm, so a 115L tank suits it well.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 Dramatic Juvenile-to-Adult Colour Change: Electric blue-spotted juvenile to brown, yellow-tailed adult
🌿 Fully Reef Safe: Won't harm corals or invertebrates
⚠️ Needs Assertive Tankmates: Will pester and bully more peaceful fish
💪 Hardy: Easy to keep well fed and disease-resistant
🔍 A Naming Note Worth Knowing: Distinct from the unrelated Atlantic Jewel Damselfish