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Glite Dictionary
Pomacentridae

Pomacentridae

9.9
Small colorful fish that live on tropical coral reefs
  • noun
  • /ˌpɒməˈsɛntrɪdi/
  • Specialized
translation icon : Pomacentridae
  • In marine aquariums, fish from the Pomacentridae family, such as damselfish, are popular due to their striking appearance.

Examples

  • Habitat-specialist reef fish are members of the Pomacentridae (damselfish), Gobiidae (goby), Caracanthidae (coral croucher), and Cirrhitidae (hawkfish) families (figure 1).

    Academic text (2013)

  • Many divers enjoy observing the vibrant Pomacentridae, known for their lively behavior and bright colors.

  • The Pomacentridae family includes colorful species like the clownfish, which thrive in coral reefs.

Synonyms

damselfish
vsPomacentridae
1 8.1

A small brightly colored tropical fish that lives on coral reefs

refers to the whole family grouping of such fishes rather than a single fish

Surface Forms

Pomacentridae singular
Pomacentridae plural

Morphology

Pomacentridae = Pomacentrus (opaque) = Pomacentr + idae

The formation is a Latinized taxonomic name (genus + -idae) and is not semantically transparent to an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Pomacentridae comes from Greek parts poma ('lid' or 'cover') and kentron ('sting' or 'point'), a name that likely points to a small sharp spine by the fish's gill cover. So the family name highlights that little 'sting' feature and helps identify these small, colorful reef damselfishes.