thumb|A Garibaldi in Shedd Aquarium, Chicago
The Garibaldi (Hypsypops rubicundus), known historically as the Catalina goldfish and marine goldfish and now commonly as the Garibaldi damselfish, is a species of bright orange fish in the damselfish family. It occurs in the subtropical northeastern part of the Pacific Ocean. The Garibaldi was named the official marine state fish of California in 1995, and has since been protected in California coastal waters from recreation and commercial fishing.
The English name is a reference to the 19th-century Italian general and political figure Giuseppe Garibaldi, whose followers often wore a characteristic scarlet or red shirt. Male Garibaldis aggressively defend the nest site after the female lays eggs, as is the case with other damselfish.
Distribution and habitat
Garibaldis are found in marine waters up to in depth. They usually nest in association with rock reefs and typically over rocky sea-bottoms. They prefer to live over rocky bottoms on exposed or semi-protected coasts with clear water and plenty of crevices as well as small caves for cover. Adult fish of this species are uniformly bright orange in color. It is the largest member of the damselfish family growing up to 35.6 cm () in length. Among Garibaldi there is a sexual size dimorphism, with average adult males measuring 25mm () larger than females,an unusual trait for damselfish species and other marine fish in southern California, where typically adult females are larger. They tested orange and patterned orange (in addition to non-orange) as stimuli for territorial behavior in Garibaldi. The study found that orange was a very successful stimulus, and that adding disruptive patterns to the color orange counteracted or nullified the effect of pure orange. The result was that normal-colored juveniles were attacked more (not less, as might be expectes with intraspecific camouflage) than the adult-colored juveniles. After fertilizing the eggs, the male guards the nest area until the eggs hatch, which takes 19–21 days. Garibaldi have diel patterns of egg-hatching, meaning that spawning occurs at regular intervals within a day (24 hours), every day during the spawning season. Embryos hatch within 2 hours after sunset and before early morning, potentially to minimize risk of predation by planktivorous reef fishes. The average lifespan is believed to be around 12 years, and for the longest time the maximum age for an individual was thought to be 17 years. During the time period that the eggs are developing, the male Garibaldi aggressively tries to keep all other fish away from the eggs, and will boldly attack much larger swimming creatures, including humans, to the point of biting divers in order to try to drive them away from the area where the eggs are deposited. Garibaldi territories include a shelter hole, foraging area, and for adult males, a nest site consisting of perennial patches of red algae cultivated by the male. She has standards, favoring nests that already contain eggs. Females will selectively spawn with males whose nests contain eggs that are less than three days old, over males with empty nests or those guarding mostly older eggs. Male filial cannibalism during the mating phase is believed to be an adaptive response to female spawning-site preference.