Abudefduf

Abudefduf also known as the sergeant-majors is a genus of fish in the family Pomacentridae. The name is from Arabic abu, 'the one with'; and def, 'side', and the intensive plural ending -duf. The name thus means 'the one with prominent sides'. The approximately 20 species of Abudefduf may be divided into planktivores and benthivores and three broadly pantropical clades. Two of the Abudefduf clades are primarily benthivorous and a third clade is composed of planktivores and is the most species-rich. Most diversification has occurred in the last 10 million years within this genus across all clades. There are currently 19 recognized species in this genus: