Scientific Name
Chlidichthys clibanarius
Common Name
Chainmail dottyback
Biology
Dorsal
spines
(total): 2;
Dorsal
soft rays
(total): 22-24;
Anal
spines: 3;
Anal
soft rays: 13 - 14. Dorsal fin rays II, 22-24 (usually II, 23); anal fin rays III, 13-14 (usually III, 14); pectoral fin rays 16-18 (usually 17-18); predorsal scales 12-17, extending to interorbital commissure; ctenoid scales beginning at 1-3 transverse scale rows behind gill opening; and circumpeduncle scales 20-23, usually 20. It also has distinctive live and preserved coloration: head and body pale brown to brown (in life, pale green to olive or bright green, with yellow to bright orange or bright red stripes on head and front of body, and snout and anteroventral part of head reddish grey to bright red), with bases of scales edged with dark brown (dark olive-grey in life), giving reticulate pattern; dorsal and anal fins dark brown to dark grey basally (bluish grey to olive in life), greyish to brownish hyaline distally; scaly sheath of caudal fin similar to body coloration, edged posterior