Marine aquarium › Queen angelfish – Holacanthus ciliaris › Queen angelfish quick facts
Taxonomy of Queen angelfish
- Species: ciliaris
- Genus: Holacanthus
- Family: Pomacanthidae (Angelfishes)
- Order: Perciformes (Perch-like)
- Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)
- Subphylum: Vertebrata
- Phylum: Chordata
- Kingdom: Animalia
Scientific name
Holacanthus ciliaris (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms of Holacanthus ciliaris
Chaetodon ciliaris Linnaeus, 1758
Chaetodon squamulosus Shaw, 1796
Chaetodon parrae Bloch & Schneider, 1801
Holacanthus coronatus Desmarest, 1823
Holacanthus formosus Castelnau, 1855
Holacanthus iodocus Jordan & Rutter, 1897
Angelichthys iodocus (Jordan & Rutter, 1897)
Holacanthus lunatus Blosser, 1909
Subspecies in queen angelfish
No subspecies
Common names of Holacanthus ciliaris
English:Angelfish, Blue angelfish, Golden angelfish, Queen angel, Yellow angelfish
French: Demoiselle royale
Japanese: Hokuro-yakko
Chinese: 額斑刺蝶魚, 额斑刺蝶鱼
German: Königinfisch
Russian: –
Arabic: –
Spanish: Ángel reina, Cachama de piedra, Guinea, Isabelita, Isabelita patale, Isabelita reina
Ecosystem
Marine; subtropical; reef-associated; non-migratory; depth range: 1 – 70 m; inhabits coral reefs and near by waters;
Distributed in Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Discovery Bay, East Brazil Shelf, Gulf of Mexico, North Brazil Shelf, South Brazil Shelf, Southeast U.S. Continental Shelf;
introduced into Mediterranean Sea, Adriatic Sea;
Native countries
The queen angelfish is distributed in 33 countries in North America. Some of them are: USA, Mexico, Virgin Island, Trinidad Tobago, St Lucia, Puerto Rico, Panama, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Honduras, Haiti, Guatemala, Grenada, Dominica, Cuba, Costa Rica, Belize, Barbados, Bahamas, Antigua Barbuda and Anguilla;
In South America these species occur in Venezuela, Suriname, St Paul’s Rocks, Guyana, French Guiana, Colombia and Brazil;
Size range
maximum recorded length 45.0 cm; common length : 30.0 cm; maximum published weight is 1.6 kg.
Diet and feeding habits
These angel fish are foragers; main diet sponges; feed on a variety of sessile invertebrates, algae and plants;
Reproduction
dioecism; external fertilization; peek in winter season; no parental care; pelagic spawning and scattering eggs in open waters; do not form large aggregations to spawn; egg hatches in 15 hours;
Diseases
prone to ick and Lymphocystis infections.;
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC)
CITES status: Not Evaluated
Threat to humans: Reports of ciguatera poisoning on consuming the angelfish;
Reference: http://www.fishbase.org/summary/3609
Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/briangratwicke/3783089792/
Image author: Brian Gratwicke | License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ CC BY 2.0 (as on 2016-10-22)
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