Two Californian Pomacentrids— LlMBAUGH 
47 
juveniles, by collectors having commercial li- 
censes, the population will probably regain its 
former abundance, and their beauty will con- 
tinue to afford pleasure to underwater observers. 
BLACKSMITHS 
Brief Description 
Blacksmiths are oblong fishes with heavy 
scales and rather blunt heads. The single dorsal 
fin has 13 spines and usually 12 rays, and there 
are two spines located at the front of the anal 
fin. They are blue-gray in color with small black 
dots on their backs, the soft portion of the 
dorsal fin, and on the caudal fin. The young-of- 
the-year are gray-blue anteriorly and yellow- 
orange posteriorly and have an iridescent blue 
margin around their dorsal, caudal, and anal fins. 
Kritzler et al. (1950) briefly described their 
color patterns. 
Recorded Range 
The blacksmith extends from Monterey Bay 
(Radovich, 1961) to central Baja California 
(Roedel, 1953). I have observed them while 
diving at Point Dume, Rocky Cove, Long Point, 
Newport Beach, La Jolla, and Point Loma along 
the mainland coast, and around the islands of 
Santa Cruz, Santa Catalina, San Clemente, Los 
Coronados, and Guadalupe. 
Size 
The 11 -inch specimen reported by Radovich 
(1961) appears to be the largest known. The 
largest adults I observed while diving were about 
25 cm long. Blacksmiths mature in the La Jolla 
area when they are about 14 cm long (5.5 
inches) and 2 years old. Observations suggest 
that they are somewhat larger at maturity in the 
northern part of their range. 
Habitat 
They live over steep rocky banks and among 
tall seaweeds as well as around rocks; they gen- 
erally face the incoming currents. Adults have 
been found from the surface to 150 ft, and they 
probably visit depths of 300 ft or more; how- 
ever, the average depth of adult occurrence is 
30 ft. The young are found from the surface to 
about 50 ft. 
Life History 
They are extremely abundant throughout the 
year in southern California waters. Young and 
adult blacksmiths school or aggregate in definite 
size groups. In general, the smaller fish are found 
in shallower water, although large adults live 
in shallow water in the northern portion of their 
range. They may be found in loosely-oriented 
schools, or, when molested or pursued, in large, 
well-oriented, compact schools. 
In the northern and central portion of their 
range adults are ripe in June and July. Eggs 
obtained by stripping were cherry red and rela- 
tively large, approximately 1.5 mm in diameter. 
Turner and Ebert (1963) observed the black- 
smiths breeding and nesting at Santa Catalina 
Island, California, in the summer of 1961. The 
blacksmiths 
laid their eggs back in holes and small caverns 
that were made by 15 to 30 pound rocks that 
formed a tumbled slide running offshore. They 
were nesting from 12 to 80 feet beneath the 
surface and probably deeper. The male first 
cleared an area and then herded a female into 
his "den” by biting and otherwise harassing her. 
From the egg counts and varying states of de- 
velopment probably more than one female laid 
eggs in a single nest. The masses of eggs were 
salmon pink when laid, oblong and adhered by 
means of filaments ( up to 7 ) at one end of the 
egg. The male guarded the nest very pugna- 
ciously during brooding. Actual egg-laying could 
not be observed because the nesting holes were 
too small at the entrance to permit peeking in. 
Whenever a guarding male was driven off a 
whole horde of fishes would swarm in to eat 
eggs. 
The juveniles appear in large, semipelagic 
schools in August, September, and October; they 
are V 2 to 1 inch long at this time. By November 
only a few 1 -inch-long specimens can be found 
in the central portion of their range. To the 
south, however, (Guadalupe Island) they occur 
as V^-inch young into November. By June of 
the following year they are between 2 and 3 
inches long. 
The blue-and-yellow juveniles school densely 
in the open ocean, sometimes entering kelp beds. 
As they grow larger they settle in shallow sandy 
