The spiny chromis (Acanthochromis polyacanthus) is a species of damselfish from the western Pacific.

The spiny chromis was first formally described in 1855 as Dascyllus polyacanthus by the Dutch ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker with the type locality given as Batman in the Moluccas.

[2] It is found in western and central Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, northern Australia, and all the islands in the Philippines except Luzon.

[5] [6] The spiny chromis, unlike many other coral reef fishes, has direct development of their larvae, which means that the parents protect their brood from the egg stage (which are laid on the reef), through hatching and onto the fully developed juvenile stage.

[7] There is no pelagic larval stage unlike the vast majority of coral reef fishes.