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Dascyllus melanurus

species of fish

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 24, 2026
Entity authorityQ1810280 ↗
Source-derived summary

Dascyllus melanurus, known commonly as the four stripe damselfish, blacktail dascyllus, humbug damselfish, blacktail damselfish, and blacktail humbug, is a species of fish in the family Pomacentridae. It is native to the western Pacific Ocean. It is sometimes kept as an aquarium pet.

Description

The four striped damselfish is commonly found in Indo-Australian Archipelago and western Caroline Islands including Indonesia, Philippines, New Guinea, and the northern Great Barrier Reef of Australia. They are found at depths down to 33 feet, and it is associated with isolated coral heads in sheltered inshore habitats. Like all damselfish, they can be territorial and aggressive, especially as they get older. Four-striped Damselfish typically grow to about three or four inches. The less common species name is Dascyllus melanurus. They are also omnivores, eating anything ranging from algae to small fish or shrimp. Three alternating black and white vertical bands make up the body coloration with a fourth black band ending at the tail.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Dascyllus melanurus” as species of fish. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewUseful for establishing the present vocabulary of the subject while preserving a route back to the evidence on which that vocabulary rests. The current 159-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Dascyllus, melanurus and species can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of fish. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1810280. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Dascyllus melanurus”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Dascyllus melanurus primary sources, Dascyllus melanurus archive and Dascyllus research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Dascyllus melanurus”?
  2. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
  3. Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Dascyllus melanurus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.