Territorial and one of the largest species of damselfishes, hence aggressively defends the area around its home cave. This area will include a crop of algae, which is continually grazed by the fish. Adult scalyfin can be distinguished from related species by the relatively plain body with blue tips to the fins, and the light grey crescent-shaped markings under the eye and on the opercles. Juveniles are difficult to identify because they have an orange body, blue-ringed black spot on the dorsal fin and neon blue streaks, all features shared with juveniles of other Parma species.

• Max Size: 20 cm
• Sea Temperature Range: 11.8-22.1°C
• Depth: 0- 25 m
• Habitat: Rocky Reef
• Habitat Generalisation Index: 15.4
  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: Least Concern
• Occurrence: Widespread (60% 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: Few (3 per transect)
  Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.