A large and aggressive damselfish that will readily defend its territory. Juveniles bright yellow and blue, but adults generally all with similar colouration but with a variable degree of 'blotchy' markings. Larger individuals with quite a humped forehead, although this is not as steep (and mouth does not protrude as much) as the co-occurring and similar P. occidentalis. Adults have a dark mottled appearance with blue trim around the edges of the fins.

• Max Size: 20 cm
• Sea Temperature Range: 16.5-23.3°C
• Depth: 2-35m
• Habitat: Rocky Reef
• Habitat Generalisation Index: 26.9
  Also referred to as the SGI (Species generalisation index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here

• IUCN Threat Status: Not Evaluated
• Occurrence: Common (43% of sites)
  Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed
• Abundance: Several (7 per transect)
  Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.