Something about this beautiful dottyback discovered and imaged by Marj Awai reminds us instantly of Gramma dejongi. We know we have a fever that can only be cured with more dejongi which is why this all yellow slender fish really grabs our attention.
The yellow dottyback is probably a xanthic form of the ubiquitous diadema dottyback, Pictichromis diadema which has a genetic mishap that simply omitted to develop its diagnostic purple cap. Interestingly, the purple eyes of the species are still retained in this “xanthic” specimen of the popular beginner aquarium fish.
The all yellow dottyback is not to be confused with the yellow pseudochromis, P. fuscus which is by all accounts, a nasty aquarium fish. Don’t expect this fish to ever be found again in the Philippines where it was discovered however if Pictichromis diadema ever became the target of large scale captive breeding, all yellow morphs like this one are exactly the first kind of mutations we would expect to see.