Sergeant Major

Geographical Origin and Habitat: Native to the tropical Atlantic Ocean, ranging from Canada to Brazil, including the Caribbean Sea and the West African coast. Inhabits shallow reefs and rocky structures.

Taxonomy and Morphology: Member of the family Pomacentridae. Features a deep, oval, and compressed body shape. Reaches a maximum standard length of 20 cm. Robust fin structure.

Social Behavior: Forms large schooling groups as juveniles. Adults become solitary and highly territorial, exhibiting aggressive behavior toward tankmates.

Coloration and Sexual Dimorphism: Silvery-grey body with yellow highlights on the back. Marked by five bold vertical black stripes on the sides. Spawning males turn bluish.

Aquarium Setup: Requires a large aquarium of at least 300 liters to accommodate its active swimming habits and aggressive adult nature.

Diet and Feeding: Omnivorous diet. Readily accepts flakes, pellets, frozen mysis, brine shrimp, chopped seafood, and marine algae formulations.

Water Quality: Maintain standard marine parameters: temperature 22-27 °C, pH 8.1-8.4, and salinity 1.020-1.025 with strong filtration.

Compatibility and Cohabitation: Due to its highly aggressive nature, house only with large, robust, and active species such as tangs, triggerfishes, and large angelfishes.

Aquarium Breeding: Oviparous. The male turns bright blue, selects a flat rock nest, courts the female, and defends the adhesive eggs aggressively.

Risks and Diseases: Extremely resilient and resistant to common marine diseases. Very easy to keep but requires careful selection of tankmates.