Angelfish
angelfish
Queen Angelfish
Holacanthus ciliaris
About
The queen angelfish glides alone or in pairs over the reef, its blue-green scales edged in yellow catching the light. It grows to a common length of 30 cm, with a maximum of 45 cm.
Also known as: blue angelfish
- Length
- 30 cm · max 45 cm
- Weight
- max 1.6 kg
- Depth
- up to 70 m
How to tell it apart
The queen angelfish looks similar to the Bermuda blue angelfish, but only the queen has a full ring around the crown spot on its forehead.
Appearance
This angelfish has a broad, flattened, oval body with a small mouth and a triangular tail. Its scales are blue-green tipped with yellow, and its tail, pectoral, and pelvic fins are bright yellow. A dark blue spot ringed in electric blue sits on its forehead, like a crown. Juveniles look different: dark blue with curved bright blue stripes and a yellow patch near the pectoral fin.
Habitat
Queen angelfish live on coral reefs, from close to shore down to about 70 m, and favour areas with soft corals such as sea fans and sea whips. They swim alone or in pairs, moving gracefully between the coral.
Behaviour
A male holds a territory with two to four females and visits each of them through the day. Spawning happens year-round and often around a full moon, when a pair rises together in the water to release eggs and sperm.
Did you know?
Young queen angelfish work as cleaners, picking parasites off the skin of larger fish that visit them on the reef.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
