Threespot Damselfish Predation	Back to Predators
The threespot damselfish (Stegastes planifrons) is an aggressive, territorial fish that creates algal lawns on the surface of living corals, and defends these lawns from other herbivores.   M. annularis star coral with recent bite marks These fish typically take numerous small bites over the surface of the coral affecting one or more polyps in an area, and these dead polyps are then usually colonized by tufts of algae.	Stegastes planifrons Damselfish algal lawn on Dendrogyra cylindricus pillar coral
Damselfish algal lawn that encompasses staghorn coral (A. cervicornis) and star coral (M. faveolata).	In boulder star corals (Montastraea annularis species complex) fish bite at individual polyps in multiple locations. Filamentous algae rapidly colonizes the injuries, and because of the slow growth of the coral, algae may ultimately overwhelm and kill the coral.
The fish will bite at multiple locations on staghorn coral and elkhorn coral, but because these corals grow relatively quickly, they attempt to contain the algae and heal over the injury. If fish continuously bite in the same location on a colony, the coral will produce a chimney like structure which encircles the algae and prevents it from affecting adjacent areas. These chimneys characteristically have a tuft of algae emerging from the top. Staghorn coral, A. cervicornis with damselfish chimneys	Elkhorn coral, A. palmata with damselfish chimneys
Brain coral (C.natans) with a damselfish algal lawn. Algae has colonized and overgrown the right portion of the colony and the lawn is increasing in size by fish biting on remaining tissue. The ruler is 15 cm	In brain corals, the damselfish tend to bite on the projecting ridges. As these ridges are colonized by algae, the fish continue to bite in new areas, resulting in a to progressive enlargement of the lawn. This has been referred to as ridge mortality.