The fairy basslet (scientific name: Gramma loreto) is a member of the basslet family (Family Grammatidae) that lives on coral reefs in the Wester Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Fairy basslet. Source: ''Reef Fish Identification'', New World Publications © 1994

Scientific Classification Kingdom: Animalia (Animals) Phylum:--- Chordata Class:------ Osteichthyes (Bony Fishes) Order:-------- Perciformes Family:-------- Grammatidae (Basslets) Genus:----------Gramma Species:----------Gramma loreto (Poey, 1868)

Physical Description

Fairy basslets range from four to eight centimeters in length. Their fronts are bright purple, and their rears are yellow.  They have a number of streaks passing through the eyes and a black spot on their dorsal fin.

Distribution

This species is found in the central Western Atlantic from southern Florida, USA to northern South America as well as in Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean Sea.  They are not reported in the Gulf of Mexico.

Habitat

G. loreto lives on coral reefs from one to 70 meters in depth. They are often found in caves or under ledges.

Feeding Behavior

Fairy basslets feed on plankton that fall near the reef and on small benthic crustaceans.

Behavior

G. loreto lives in colonies in which each individual defends a territory that contains their safe hiding spot from members of their own species and from other species such as masked gobies and threespot damselfish. 

They like to orient themselves with their belly to the substrate, so they are otfen observed swimming upside down on ceilings of caves or the bottom side of overhangs.

Reproduction

Adult G. loreto males establish nest sites prior to spawning activity, using small holes and crevices in the substratum. They employ algae which they cut from the substrate to line the nests and to conceal the nest opening. Females travel to these nest sites created by the males for egg deposition at the first appearance of morning sunlight penetrating into the epipelagic zone. Females deposit eggs, that are negatively bouyant and about on millimeter in size to form a multilayer egg mass. Males guard and care for the eggs with various types of nest care behavior: nest guarding, nest maintenance, detritus clearing in and around nests, and simple periodic nest inspection entering. Eggs hatch after ten or eleven days, and then the larvae are believed to proceed to the planktonic stage until they are sufficiently heavy to resettle on the reef.

Conservation Status

The fairy basslet is not deemed to be a taxon at risk.

References and Further Reading

• K.Asoh and D.Shapiro 1997 Bisexual juvenile gonad and gonochorism in the fairy basslet, Gramma loreto. Copeia (1):22-31
• Encyclopedia of Life. Species Curator: C.Michael Hogan. 2011. Gramma loreto Poey, 1868
• P.Humann and N.Deloach (Editor) 1994. Reef Fish Identification: Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas. New World Publications, Inc. Jacksonville, FL. ISBN: 1878348078
• N.Deloach. 1999. Reef Fish Behavior, Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas. New World Publications, Inc. Jacksonville, FL. ISBN: 1878348280