variabilis, Pomacentrus Castelnau [F. L.] 1855:9, Pl. 3 (fig. 3) [Animaux nouveaux or rares v. 2; ref. 766] Bahia, Brazil. Syntypes: MNHN 0000-8135 (2). Type catalog: Bauchot et al. 1978:29 [ref. 20862]. •Valid as Pomacentrus variabilis Castelnau 1855 -- (Robins & Ray 1986:200 [ref. 23100], Cervigón 1992:385 [ref. 23827]). •Valid as Stegastes variabilis (Castelnau 1855) -- (Allen 1991:254 [ref. 19344], Boschung 1992:152 [ref. 23239], Cervigón 1993:369 [ref. 24474], Gasparini et al. 1999:6 [ref. 24182], Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999:288 [ref. 25013], Novelli et al. 2000:5 [ref. 25094], Schmitter-Soto et al. 2000:164 [ref. 27754], Rocha & Rosa 2001:991 [ref. 25909] as aff. variabilis, Carter & Kaufman 2003:1696 [ref. 27102], Moura & Menezes in Menezes et al. 2003:92 [ref. 27192], Smith et al. 2003:42 [ref. 27621], Nelson et al. 2004:155 [ref. 27807], McEachran & Fechhelm 2005:503 [ref. 28815], Page et al. 2013:159 [ref. 32708], Spier et al. 2018:15 [ref. 36103]). •Valid as Stegastes variabilis (Castelnau 1855) -- (Smith-Vaniz & Jelks 2014:62 [ref. 33341], Carvalho-Filho in Marceniuk et al. 2021:262 [ref. 38945], Kovačić et al. 2021:74 [ref. 39014], Parenti 2021:85 [ref. 38418],, Carvalho-Filho 2023:196 [ref. 40480] Hoff et al. 2023:7 [ref. 40463]). Current status: Valid as Stegastes variabilis (Castelnau 1855). Pomacentridae: Microspathodontinae. Distribution: Southwestern Atlantic: Maranhão south to Santa Catarina (Brazil) endemic. Records from northern Atlantic areas are now considered to be Stegastes xanthurus. Habitat: marine.