Species: Chromis enchrysurus, Yellowtail Reeffish, Yellowtail Chromis

Chromis enchrysurus Jordan & Gilbert, 1882

Yellowtail Reeffish, Yellowtail Chromis

Body compressed, a deep oval; 1 pair of nostrils; edge of bone under eye smooth, no notch, hidden by scales; preopercle smooth or with occasional fine serrations; mouth small, protrusible, opens at front; teeth in 2 rows, outer conical, larger; a single continuous dorsal fin XIII, 11-13; anal fin II, 11-13; pectoral 17-19; 2-3 short projecting spines at upper and lower base of tail fin; caudal fin deeply forked, with rounded tips; scales large and rough; body scaled, most of head scaled, basal parts of the median fins scaled; lateral line incomplete, ends under end of dorsal fin base; lateral line scales 15-19.

Adult: Upper ½ of head and body and spinous dorsal fin dark grey-brown, lower parts and tail base white, an abrupt separation between those two color zones; an electric, purplish-blue stripe from top lip, through upper edge of eye to under front 1/3 of dorsal fin; soft dorsal, tail fin, and outer ¾ of anal fin yellow. Juvenile with upper ¾ of head and body dark bluish grey, grading to white below; blue lines more strongly marked, fin colors similar, plus pelvics yellow.

Reaches 10 cm.

Outer edges of reefs.

Depth range: 5-97 m.

Cape Hatteras to the Gulf of Mexico.

Note: closely related to but genetically distinct from C. cf enchrysurus, which has a different color pattern and a different geographic range.